Fears in Solitude was the poem of Coleridge’s that really caught my eye throughout this reading. In this poem, I saw the present and thought how funny (depressing) it is that we are still dealing with the same issues that Coleridge saw in England during this time. Throughout this semester, we have read a lot of poetry centered on the conflict with France. Coleridge uses imagery and ration to argue against the conflict. He shows his reader the potential suffering they may have if complicit to the atrocities committed in war. My favorite is in lines 104-107:
“…Boys and girls,
And women, that would groan to see a child
Pull off an insect’s leg, all read of war,
The best amusement for our morning meal!”
And instantly, Coleridge has satirized the media consumption of the British individual, while also poignantly showing how desensitized to violence war makes us. When rationally, it would seem that we would become more understanding and internally harmed by the idea of violence anywhere near us. I really believe that this idea is so pertinent to our understanding of conflict today. We can simply scroll past a video or article of violence without much of a thought, we can write it off as if it is far away from us. Or we can read about it with passion and still go on with our days, untouched. Coleridge is highlighting something that he would’ve hoped would be solved by today, only for me to realize that we are not anywhere close to losing our ambivalence to conflict. We favor what we are told to favor, without thought of the truth. We support our country no matter what. And like Coleridge goes on to say, national pride is not a complete evil but is something that should promote more than just violence. National pride should represent more than our ability to wage war against an adversary, we should rally around the flag outside of the concept of warfare.
Romanticism Blog 