Post date: 08-Jun-2013 17:21:01
Written February 21st, 1825, Coleridge’s sonnet Work Without Hope is about a man’s dark and depressed emotions as related to the jubilance of nature, starkly juxtaposing the somber mood of the narrator against the vivid, bright imagery of springtime. Set upon a winter day just showing the first signs of spring, the speaker laments that all nature seems at work (1) while he alone remains unoccupied. The first stanza of the poem speaks upon the beauty of nature, as all of God’s creatures are slowly crawling from out their shelter to embrace the coming tides of spring. The narrator observes the Slugs leave their lair /The bees are stirring birds are on the wing (1-2). Meanwhile, the man contrasts himself against the animals as the sole unbusy thing,/nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing (5-6).He sees nature and, realizing and understanding its beauty, has trouble seeing and appreciating it for himself. While spring creeps upon the rest of the world and nature, the narrator is still stuck in the desolate and dreary season of winter, as can be implied through his attitude.
The second stanza further perpetuates this idea, as the speaker develops these stark contrasts even further. Speaking of the uncanny beauty and splendour of the streams and flowers surrounding him, he says, Bloom, O ye amaranths! Bloom for whom he may /For me ye bloom not! (9-10). The man knows of the beauty surrounding him, as it is everywhere he looks, yet cannot for the life of him appreciate it due to the state of depression he is in, describing himself as having lips unbrightened and a wreathless brow (11), representing his lack of success and self-imposed view of his life as a failure. Like winter, the narrator has become sterile, barren, and fruitless, having achieved no means of success. Speaking in a desperate tone, the speaker sees no hope for his own future, stuck in the desolate times of the bleak winter days, unable to see any beauty or hope of the life and nature surrounding him. It is within the last two lines of the poem that the man harshly and sharply summarizes his own mindset and life, as Coleridge writes that Work without hope draws nectar in a sieve,/And hope without an object cannot live (13-14). The speaker is explaining how, much like drawing nectar in a sieve is impossible, so is any work without hope, for hope cannot survive or exist without a reasonable purpose or motivation to drive it. The utter hopelessness and desperation of the man is seen here within these lines, as he himself has no hope for the present or future, confining himself within the lonely cell of winter. Despite the beautiful, spring day full of life blooming around him, the narrator can only see and feel the cold hopelessness he has surrounded himself in.
In many ways, I find this poem to be extremely personal in relation to Coleridge, as opposed to a commentary on some larger, historical scale. As can be seen throughout his life, amidst constant money woes, love and family problems, and an insatiable drug habit, Coleridge was far from a happy man. I believe that the hopelessness expressed in this poem directly relates to what he was feeling in his own life, as he was essentially in a drug treatment/apothecary center at the home of James Gillman at this time, having already lost several children to premature death and undergoing separation from his wife. Coleridge was a complete mess of a man at this time, and had not even seen his own children for a period of 8 years. His world was crumbling down around him, and he could only idly sit by, watch, and remain stuck as the rest of the world rejoiced in the beauty of nature and life.
http://digitalschool.minedu.gov.gr/modules/ebook/show.php/DSGYM-C113/351/2366,8996/