Who Is Coleridge's 'Work Without Hope'?

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“Work without Hope” is a sonnet written during the Romantic era by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Coleridge’s writing develops in the first twelve lines, and then the last two lines present the central theme of the poem to the audience. The poem describes the hard-working creatures of nature as they prepare for the coming spring. The narrator finds himself as the only being without an occupation. Despite being part of nature, the speaker observes that things do not work out for him. The speaker in the sonnet is an observer who does not take part in the activities of the natural world. Throughout the poem, the narrator describes nature at work setting up a contrast between the busy world and him. “Work without Hope” is a writing that relates the narrators’ emotions to the winter seasons and how his feelings affect his life. …show more content…

The man observes other creatures working; “Slugs leave their lair / the bees are stirring – birds are on the wing…” (Coleridge 1-2). As the narrator talks about the industriousness of nature, he refers to himself as an “unbusy” creature. Comparing himself with other living things, he claims, “And I the while, the sole unbusy thing / nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.” (Coleridge 5-6). The narrator feels troubled as he realizes the beauty of nature. The manner in which Coleridge present the poem, make the readers believe that the speaker in the poem is in the winter season. This season is usually considered a desolate period and a season of despair. (Eugenides 175). Winter season might, therefore, have affected the observer’s

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