The Pains of Sleep - Samuel Taylor Coleridge
/The Pains of Sleep - Samuel Taylor Coleridge/
A Reflective Lament on Fear, Guilt, and the Need for Love
Original Poem (English), line by line:
The Pains of Sleep
Ere on my bed my limbs I lay,
It hath not been my use to pray
With moving lips or bended knees;
But silently, by slow degrees,
My spirit I to Love compose,
In humble trust mine eye-lids close,
With reverential resignation,
No wish conceived, no thought express'd,
Only a sense of supplication;
A sense o'er all my soul imprest
That I am weak, yet not unblest,
Since in me, round me, everywhere
Eternal Strength and Wisdom are.
But yester-night I pray'd aloud
In anguish and in agony,
Up-starting from the fiendish crowd
Of shapes and thoughts that tortured me:
A lurid light, a trampling throng,
Sense of intolerable wrong,
And whom I scorn'd, those only strong!
Thirst of revenge, the powerless will
Still baffled, and yet burning still!
Desire with loathing strangely mix'd
On wild or hateful objects fix'd.
Fantastic passions! maddening brawl!
And shame and terror over all!
Deeds to be hid which were not hid,
Which all confus'd I could not know
Whether I suffer'd, or I did:
For all seem'd guilt, remorse, or woe,
My own or others', still the same
Life-stifling fear, soul-stifling shame.
So two nights passed: the night's dismay
Sadden'd and stunned the coming day.
Sleep, the wide blessing, seem'd to me
Distemper's worst calamity.
The third night, when my own loud scream
Had waked me from the fiendish dream,
O'ercome with sufferings strange and wild,
I wept as I had been a child;
And having thus by tears subdu'd
My anguish to a milder mood,
Such punishments, I said, were due
To Nature's deepliest stain'd with sin:
For aye entempesting anew
The unfathomable hell within
The horror of their deeds to view,
To know and loathe, yet wish and do!
Such griefs with such men well agree,
But wherefore, wherefore fall on me?
To be beloved is all I need,
And whom I love, I love indeed.
In “The Pains of Sleep,” Samuel Taylor Coleridge offers a deeply personal reflection on the tumultuous realm of his nighttime dreams, revealing his struggles with guilt, dread, and a craving for emotional solace. Written against a backdrop of personal stress and possible opium use, the poem exposes the poet’s fear that—while conscious—he might be able to compose his spirit calmly, yet his unconscious mind is haunted by disturbing visions.
The poem’s structure moves from an initial serenity—where Coleridge prays silently and surrenders himself to ‘Love’—to abrupt, nightmarish chaos. In these nightmares, he endures a ‘fiendish crowd’ of images that compel him to question his own moral standing. The disjointed, frantic style in these middle lines highlights the intensity of his psychological upheaval. The emotional chaos, couched in phrases like ‘fantastic passions,’ ‘maddening brawl,’ and ‘life-stifling fear,’ illuminates the terror he experiences.
Gradually, Coleridge returns to a softer tone, acknowledging that his profound anguish might be a penance for sins—both real and imagined. Yet, he also wonders why such punishment should fall upon him. The simple, heartrending plea ‘To be beloved is all I need’ resonates as the poem’s core yearning: a desire for human connection and reassurance amid pain.
Throughout these stanzas, Coleridge demonstrates the Romantic fascination with the interior self, showing how half-conscious experiences or vivid dreams are inseparable from moral and emotional complexity. The poem’s ultimate message underscores his longing to find relief not only from haunting nightmares but also from the burden of his own self-criticism. These lines reflect a belief that redemption—or relief—must be anchored in genuine love, for oneself and from others, if one is to conquer the debilitating ‘pains of sleep.’ (Approx. 250 words)
Key points
1. The poem underscores the divide between conscious discipline and unconscious turmoil.
2. Coleridge’s nightmares vividly depict the guilt, shame, and fear haunting his inner life.
3. A core Romantic theme is present: exploring psychological realms and their moral weight.
4. The poet’s plea for love highlights a deep need for empathy and understanding.
5. Genuine emotional connection is portrayed as a potential salvation from one’s inward struggles.
