22
THE BATTALION.
CHRISTA BEL.
In this remarkable poem Coleridge por
trays the power of association. The
pure maiden coming in contact with a
foul woman has her whole nature
changed. Her beautiful countenance mir
rors the serpent’s look, which the foul
being casts upon her, and her father,
understanding this expression, turns in
aversion even from his own innocent
daughter.
We have here another instance of Cole
ridge’s delight in describing the un
canny and preternatural, which reveals
itself in the behavior of the aged lord’s
mastiff as Christahel and Geraldine en
ter the court.
The meter in this poem is unlike that
of his other productions, as in this he
counts in each line the accents and not
the syllables.
He changes from one thought to an
other with the skill of an expert per
former on a musical instrument. At one
time his fingers wander over the keys
bringing forth here and there a pleasant
sound; at another the note is raised and
the instrument peals forth the most
beautiful harmonies.
In my opinion the poem could not have
been improved upon by the addition of a
third part, as the conclusion of the sec
ond leaves the reader duly impressed by
the truths which the author desires to
impart.
WORDSWORTH.
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was
born at Cockermouth, a town in Cumber
land. His father, John Wordsworth, was
a law agent to Sir James Lawther. Wil
liam was a boy of a stiff, moody, and
violent temper. His mother died while
he was very young, and his father when
he was fourteen. At the age of seven
teen he went to St. John’s College, Cam
bridge. After taking his degree B. A.,
he resided for a year in France. His best
poems are his shorter pieces, such as
poems on “Lucy,” “The Cuckoo,” the
“Ode to Duty,” and several of his son
nets.
His style is always simple, and his
poems may be easily understood by every
one. In his poems he did not write of
'societies and towns, but of the woods,
flowers, sun, moon and stars, and other
things of nature. He did not employ
the old artificial vocabulary which other
poets reveled in; he used the simplest
words he could find. He says of his
own poetry that his purpose in writing
it was “to console the afflicted; to add
sunshine to daylight by making the
happy happier; to teach the young and
the gracious of every age to see, to think,
and feel, and therefore become more ac
tively and securely virtuous.”
His ode on “Immortality” is very for
cible, and at the same time very simple.
In stanza nine he tells us that all is not
lost, that there are many things in na
ture that grown men may enjoy as well
as the child, and that we may see new
and nobler things in the beauty of the
most common flower. His “Laodamia”
is one of the very few instances where he
has chosen a classic theme. Words
worth himself said, “It cost me more
trouble than anything I have ever writ
ten.”
It seems to me to be harder to under
stand than his other poems, and re
quires a greater amount of thinking to
get a clear idea of his meaning and the
true sense of the story.
It. E. COULTER.