Dejection: An Ode Dissatisfaction Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Line)

Quote #4

My genial spirits fail;
And what can these avail
To lift the smothering weight from off my breast? (39-41)

"Genial" is an important word here. Today, it typically means friendly, but Coleridge had a second definition in mind, one that relates to "genius." Now, "genius" here would mean something closer to "ability" for him, rather than "super-smarts." In short, then, the speaker's dissatisfaction actually prevents him from using his intellect and insight. He's so dissatisfied, he can't even think.

Quote #5

I may not hope from outward forms to win
The passion and the life, whose fountains are within. (45-46)

Well, at least the speaker knows what won't work for him: anything external to his own thoughts and emotions. The only cure for this dissatisfaction comes from within. Hey, does writing a poem count?

Quote #6

But now afflictions bow me down to earth:
Nor care I that they rob me of my mirth;
But oh! each visitation
Suspends what nature gave me at my birth,
My shaping spirit of Imagination. (82-86)

As he did in lines 39-41, the speaker points out that one of the worst side effects of being dejected is that he loses the power of imagination. To a poet, that's like Superman putting on kryptonite tights—not good. He's robbed of his abilities in the face of this overwhelming dissatisfaction.