The function of prayer in S. T. Coleridge's poetry

Dátum
Folyóirat címe
Folyóirat ISSN
Kötet címe (évfolyam száma)
Kiadó
Absztrakt

In my thesis I analysed the function of prayer in S. T. Coleridge's poems, "The Pains of Sleep," "A Child's Evening Prayer," "Christabel," and "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Coleridge had a unique understanding of prayer as he regarded it as a possibility for the praying subject to be unified with God. Thus, prayer in his thinking, is a state of being. This is the ideal and appropriate way of praying which is hardly achieved in his poems. The first two poems focus on prayer exclusively. "The Pains of Sleep" describes the poet's inability to pray due to his agonies while "A Child's Evening Prayer" is an example of an inappropriate prayer. Love as a Christian virtue is necessary to achieve the unificiation with God and that is why the Mariner receives temporary redemption. "Christabel" shows that the mother plays a significant role as the teacher of praying. As a motherless child, Christabel cannot perform an appropriate prayer.

Leírás
Kulcsszavak
poetry, English Romanticism, prayer
Forrás