Coleridge an addict.
.... “And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,” when on this drug Coleridge’s 3rd person views are reacting to the visuals his mind is producing. Looking at the years Coleridge produced these poems also puts this enigma that we know of his drug addiction together. 1797, the year Coleridge said he recorded “Kubla Khan,” he was in the height of his addiction. 1803, the year “The Pains of Sleep” was written, was around the days of his withdrawal. Both poems were published in 1816, which leaves some speculation. Withdrawal is the bad conclusion to a drug addiction. All addicts have only one thing to help them through withdrawal, and that is beliefs. Coleridge’s beliefs helped him through these tough times and his only way to transfer his feelings to his audience is through “The Pains of Sleep.” “My spirit I to Love compose, in humble trust mine eye-lids close” Coleridge’s choice of words here is showing us he isn’t just praying to some fictional being, but rather his spirit, “I”, is in direct communication with God, “Love”. Not only is Samuel just praying but he is totally submitting himself to God, “With reverential resignation, no wish conceived, no thought exprest, only a sense of supplication.” His respect for God is shown in the words “reverential resignation.” “I hath no been my use to pray / With moving lips or bended knees,” this form of praying Coleridge sees as submissive. On this particular night Coleridge could do only one thing which was submit him self to god, “But yester-night I prayed aloud.” The second stanza is full of exclamation marks; these marks are put here to show the unnerving excitement Coleridge endures. “And whom I scorned, those only strong! Thirst of revenge, the powerless will / still baffled. And yet burning still!” Coleridge also uses harsh phrases (“loathing”, ”scorned”, ”fiendish crowd”) to get the point across this isn’t a gay dream. The author speaks of objects that he is drawn to but still curses, “desire with loathing strangely mixed on wild or hatef...