“Dejection an Ode”
This page was created to highlight some of the similarities and differences between a poem’s original version, and its later edited and published version. Coleridge cut out significant portions of his original “Dejection: An Ode”, most of these parts containing personal references and addresses to Sara Hutchinson. Each poem is presented here in its entirety. An analysis follows the two poems.
A subtle observation of the two poems shows, on the surface, not only a drastic change in length, but also cosmetic changes to the poem. Many words that were italicized in the original are normal in the published version; many words that were capitalized in the original are also normal in the final version, with a few exceptions. Some phrases and words are also changed, and these are shown in the original, either in brackets or side arrows, and the final product can be seen in Coleridge’s abridged “Dejection: An Ode”. (It must also be noted that there are indentations in the original, and they are different from the abridged version; however, the wiki software made it impossible to reproduce these indentations here.)
The famous version of Coleridge’s poem “Dejection: An Ode” was written in 1802, an edit from the original, which was a much longer version originally entitled “A Letter to [Asra]”.
| 1802 Version, entitled “Dejection: An Ode”
Late, late yestreen I saw the new Moon, I Well! if the Bard was weather-wise, who made II A grief without a pang, void, dark, and drear, III My genial spirits fail; IV And in our life alone does Nature live: V O pure of heart! thou need’st not ask of me VI There was a time when, though my path was rough, VII Hence, viper thoughts, that coil around my mind, VIII ‘Tis midnight, but small thoughts have I of sleep: |
Original version of the poem, entitled “A Letter to [Asra]”. April 4, 1802.–Sunday Evening.Well! if the Bard was weatherwise, who made The grand old Ballad of Sir Patrick Spence, This Night, so tranquil now, will not go hence Unrous’d by winds, that ply a busier trade Than that, which moulds yon clouds in lazy flakes, Or the dull sobbing Draft, that drones & rakes Upon the Strings of this Eolian Lute, Which better far were mute. For, lo! the New Moon, winter-bright! And [all-suffus’d] overspread with phantom Light, (With swimming phantom Light o’erspread But rimm’d & circled with a silver Thread) I see the Old Moon in her Lap, foretelling The coming-on of Rain & squally Blast– O! Sara! that the Gust ev’n now were swelling, And the slant Night-shower driving loud & fast!A Grief without a pang, void, dark, & drear, A stifling, drowsy, unimpassion’d Grief That finds no natural Outlet, no Relief In word, or sigh, or tear– This, Sara! well thou know’st, Is that sore Evil, which I dread the most, And oft’nest suffer! In this heartless Mood, To other thoughts by yonder Throstle woo’d, That pipes within the Larch tree, not unseen, (The Larch, which pushes out in tassels green It’s bundled Leafits) woo’d to mild Delights By all the tender Sounds & gentle Sights Of this sweet Primrose-mouth–& vainly woo’d [.] O dearest Sara! in this heartless Mood All this long Eve, so balmy & serene, Have I been gazing on the western Sky And it’s peculiar Tint of Yellow Green– And still I gaze–& with how blank an eye! And those thin Clouds above, in flakes & bars, That give away their Motion to the Stars; Those Stars, that glide behind them, or between, Now sparkling, now bedimm’d, but always seem; Yon crescent Moon, as fix’d as if it grew In it’s own cloudless, starless Lake of Blue– A boat becalm’d! dear William’s Sky Canoe! –I see them all, so excellently fair! I see, not feel, how beautiful they are. My genial Spirits fail– Feebly! O feebly!–Yet Sweet Thought! and dear of old I feel my spirit moved– It was as calm as this, that happy night Ah fair Remembrances, that so revive And must I not regret, that I distress’d O for my own sake I regret perforce Be happy, & I need thee not in sight. But (let me say it! for I vainly strive Nay, wherefore did I let it haunt my [dr] Mind ‘Tis Midnight! and small [Hopes] Thoughts have Yes, dearest Sara, yes! But thou, dear Sara! (dear indeed thou art, My little Children as a Joy, a Love, With no unthankful Spirit I confess, O Sara! we receive but what we give, O pure of Heart! thou need’st not ask of me
This Light, this Glory, this fair luminous Mist, Sister & Friend of my devoutest Choice! |
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Analysis of the Poems
In the later, shorter version of “Ode”, the first section deals with a description of nature and the poet’s physical surroundings. It details the wind, plying at the strings of the Eolian lute, but remarks that the music it creates is so dark and moaning, it was better that it was mute. Coleridge describes the moon, and the oncoming of rain and gusts of wind, and wishes these would play once again to revive him. Compared to the original, Coleridge has deleted the presence of “Sara” from the 15th line. He has also added the last four lines of the section. This addition allows his poem to start off establishing itself with a Romantic tone, implying the importance of nature and the wind to come work on him, and stir him and his imaginations as the wind does to the Eolian lute.
In the second section of Coleridge’s later poem, more is deleted from the original version. The first four lines are the same in both poems, but the beginning of the 5th line in the later edition starts with “O Lady!” as compared to the original’s “This, Sara!”. The original continues with a personal addressing of Sara (Hutchinson), saying that Grief is “that sore Evil, which I [Coleridge] dread the most,/ And oft’nest suffer!”. The later version takes out this personal address in favor of the impersonal and relative “Lady”. From this point the poems merge again on the part of the line, “in this wan and heartless mood”. After the next line, the two poems diverge again, with the original containing 5 lines that are edited out of the later model, because those lines again contained a personal air to Sara, wooing “tender Sounds & gentle Sights/ Of this sweet Primrose-month–& vainly woo’d[.]/O dearest Sara!”. The rest of this section is the same, save for the third line in the original, which is taken out of the later version. The end of this section describes the narrator gazing at the stars, describing nature, emphasizing seeing how beautiful the stars are, a witness to nature’s beauty and bounty. The extricated line “A boat becalm’d! dear William’s Sky Canoe!” probably gives reference to Coleridge’s friend, William Wordsworth, and describes the crescent moon from line 35 (of the later version) as a boat in the sea of the sky.
The third section of the later poem is a compact eight lines before the fourth section, while in the original there are many verse paragraphs between the lines that are found in the third and fourth sections. In the later version, Coleridge describes the need to look inward in order to take the “weight from off” his breast, and that outward forces are useless. This firmly embraces the Romantic ideal that power comes from inside, and a person needs to look intrinsically to find reality and peace.
The fourth section of the later version comes in the original much later after the third section of lines. In fact, in the edited version, section four starts on line 47, while in “A Letter to [Asra]”, those lines do not appear until line 296. Again in the shortened version, the “O Sara!” address is changed to “O Lady!” The rest of this section is the same between both poems. Coleridge highlights the relation humans have to nature, being on in the same. He writes of the soul being sent out, with its voice, around the earth. This relates to more Romanticism, of the importance of the soul and individual creativity coming forth from a person.
The fifth section shows a few slight cosmetic changes between the two versions, along with the now expected alteration of the address of Sara to the general Lady. This section focuses on the faculty of joy, which is so enunciated in the original that it is written as “JOY”. The later version has an added line, line 66. Joy is described as, through our marriage to Nature, giving us “a new Earth and new Heaven”. This faculty is meant to be the gateway, or a light, from which flows melodies and charms. Basically, Joy creates a transcendent awareness or a connection to a more perfect reality (from class notes 10/5/07).
The sixth section of the edited poem is found in the middle of its original, after a verse paragraph containing lines that are found in the eighth section of the shorter. Starting on line 231 of the longer, the first line in the original addresses Sara; naturally it is omitted in the later version. This section discusses the poet’s spirit of Imagination, and how this is given by nature, most perfect at birth, and that each affliction brings him away from his imagination towards the mundane. What was once a small habit has now grown to a consuming obsession for the poet to change his nature to a natural state of man, one that in sync with nature and would therefore transcendent reality, going along with Romanticism. This analysis comes from lines 85-94 of the edited version; the original’s final lines of this section are completely different. The edit seems much better than the original, which leaves the reader with a sense of despair that the narrator will ever find peace for his discordant soul. It was also interesting to note that the original showed Coleridge struggling to find the right word for the final line 82. The original shows he substituted “Ill Tidings” for Misfortunes, but ultimately chooses “afflictions” as his word of choice.
The seventh section found in the edited poem finds its lines in the original before the lines contained in the sixth and eighth sections. The two are mostly the same, with some words changed, and a few more cosmetic changes, including indentation and capitalization variations. In the edited version, Coleridge writes about noticing nature, specifically the wind. He describes the wind madly playing the strings of the Eolian lute, which screams in agony, while saying that it should be playing on a more natural, bare scenes to bring forth that noise–untouched mountains and lonely houses. Even in the torturous sounds that the wind produces, Coleridge describes them all as perfect, and calls the wind a poet. He asks the wind what tale it is telling with its sounds, and it responds first with a scene of madness, a mob groaning “with pain, and shudder[ing] with the cold! (113)”. The wind then tells another story, one that is softer and lighter–of a child, alone, wandering a little ways from home, but is lost. The wind relates the girl’s “grief and fear (124)”, and tells how she calls loudly so that her mother can find her. Coleridge is using the wind, and nature, to tell a story, showing the creativity of the natural world in relating alternate realities, shifting from one scene to the next.
The eighth and final section of Coleridge’s “Dejection: An Ode” is made up of two separate verse paragraphs from the original. The first part comes from lines following the lines that the seventh section came from. The last two lines of the edit come from the first and last line of the last verse paragraph of the original. Lines 134-137 seem to have been re-created for the edited version. In this section, in the edited version, the poet references a “she” and “her”. Based on the original, we know that he is referring to Sara Hutchinson. He talks of her sleeping, with the stars watching over her. In the edited version, Coleridge again calls on the faculty of joy to lift her spirit. The poet wants all things to move and live within her, likening her to the Eolian lute, which is played and influenced by the wind. Coleridge ends his poem still alluding to joy, calling on Sara to “rejoice”, being the friend he chooses to be most devout to.
Coleridge is constantly evoking nature in his poems, and personifies emotions. As a Romantic, he believes that in order to find the real reality, one must transcend the mundane, and one can do this through imagination. Coleridge embraces and presents his emotions in his poetry. The original version of this poem is much longer than the first, and the verse paragraphs that were not included in the final version are directed at Sara Hutchinson, and describing her and their relationship. Both poems are enjoyable in their own rights, and it is interesting to see them compared and contrasted, seeing what Coleridge chose to include and exclude, and how he combined lines to end up with his final “Dejection: An Ode”.
These photos show examples of Coleridge’s writing of “A Letter to [Asra]”.
References
1802 version of the poem came from http://www.english.upenn.edu/Projects/knarf/Coleridg/deject.html
Coleridge Image. http://wings.buffalo.edu/AandL/english/programs/coleridge5.jpg.
Facsimiles of Coleridge’s Letters. Whalley, George.Coleridge and Sara Hutchinson and the Asra Poems. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1955. Pages 155-164.
Contributors
by Alexi Capsouras