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Writing Prompt

Read the following poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and write an essay about the poem in which you address the following:

How does the poem work? How would you explicate its meaning? What does the poem accomplish aesthetically, intellectually, and/or philosophically?

Work Without Hope

All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair- The bees are stirring-birds are on the wing- And Winter slumbering in the open air Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring! And I the while, the sole unbusy thing, Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.

Yet well I ken the banks where amaranths blow, Have traced the fount whence streams of nectar flow. Bloom, 0 ye amaranths! bloom for whom ye may, For me ye bloom not! Glide, rich streams, away! With lips unbrightened, wreathless brow, I stroll: And would you learn the spells that drowse my soul? Work without Hope draws nectar in a sieve, And Hope without an object cannot live.

Example of a “2” Response

The poem “Work Without Hope” is a poem that speaks about the importance of having a sense of hope and purpose in one’s work. He believes that work is drudgery if it is done without hope of achieving a goal or vision. Coleridge develops this idea by saying that all of nature, from plants to animals, seem to be working with hope for something. This can be seen in the lines

Aesthetically, Coleridge the beautiful images in nature to illustrate the presence of hope in work. By the use of aesthetic images, he is able to”