In "Frost at Midnight," Coleridge views Nature as a source of wisdom for humanity. What he wasn't able to find in his boring classroom, he thinks his son will be able to find in Nature. Humans have made everything in the city, but God has made everything in Nature, which, in Coleridge's view, makes it a superior source of instruction and knowledge. Even if something in Nature seems unpleasant or weird or mildly creepy or hostile to life—like the frost, arguably—it is still testifying to God's creative power. Since God has "all things in himself," says Coleridge, people should be able to find evidence of God in all things.
Questions About Man and the Natural World
- Is Nature as benevolent as Coleridge paints it as being? Is there a darker, less divine side to Nature?
- Is Nature enough? Can it teach us everything we need to know? Or is there something that human beings provide that Nature can't?
- Does Nature express truths about God, in your opinion?
- Can we actually find happiness, no matter which of the four seasons it is? Do they all have something to say? Or are there any seasons that you find really unappealing?
Chew on This
With the rise of human civilization, the Natural world is just an invention, an idea spread though works of art like this very poem.
Oh, really? Try this on for size: there can never be a real separation from Nature. This poem shows us that, even in the supposed confines of human civilization, humanity is smack dab in the middle of the natural world.