To The River Otter- Taylor Coleridge

To The River Otter

By-Taylor Coleridge

 Dear native Brook! wild Streamlet of the West!

How many various-fated years have past,

What happy and what mournful hours, since last

I skimm'd the smooth thin stone along thy breast,

Numbering its light leaps! yet so deep imprest

Sink the sweet scenes of childhood, that mine eyes

I never shut amid the sunny ray,

But straight with all their tints thy waters rise,

Thy crossing plank, thy marge with willows grey,

And bedded sand that vein'd with various dyes

Gleam'd through thy bright transparence! On my way,

Visions of Childhood! oft have ye beguil'd

Lone manhood's cares, yet waking fondest sighs:

Ah! that once more I were a careless Child!

Analysis-

Coleridge’s poem To the River Otter speaks of a topic that we can all relate too. The main theme is how childhood memories can fill us with joy but also make us long for days where there were no worries or cares.

The speaker keeps a happy and reminiscing tone throughout the sonnet. Coleridge starts his poem by talking to the brook he used to skip stones on when he was a child. The first line grabs the reader’s attention because he uses not one but two phrases that end with an exclamation point. This caught my eye because in the poems we have read the poet rarely uses exclamation points. It adds drama and excitement to the poem. Coleridge portrays that it has been a long time since he saw his brook by asking, “How many various-fated years have past/ What happy and what mournful hours, since last” Since his last visit Coleridge like everyone else has grown up and had his share of happy and disappointing moments.  His few lines that talk about how he used to skip stones, reminds me of how I used to always climb my neighbors tree. Every time I pass by I think of all the scrapes and bruises and adventures I had on that tree with my sister and friends.

The next few lines describe Coleridge’s beloved brook. His word usage for colors caught my attention. When describing the colors he sees he uses words and phrases like, “tints”, “veined with various dyes”, “bright transparence!” I liked how he didn’t say the specific colors he saw because it allows the reader to imagine their own brook. He gives the reader the basis of the brook and we can then imagine the rest.

The last three lines of the poem bring Coleridge’s theme of the poem to full light, “Visions of Childhood! oft have ye beguil'd/Lone manhood's cares, yet waking fondest sighs:/Ah! that once more I were a careless Child!” Just today I recalled a memory I had of playing in a river with my cousins when I was small. The memory caused me to smile immediately as well as wishing I could have that moment again. Coleridge’s use of simple and descriptive language allows all of his readers to remember their own childhood spots and smile.