Note some places where the movement is most rapid, and try to discover how the poet makes it so.
Form.—Why do you suppose this poem is divided into seven parts?
Do the stanzas correspond to thought divisions as they do in The Lady of the Lake?
What is a ballad? Select three stanzas in different parts of the poem and mark the scansion. Compare these to see whether they are alike, and, if not, what variations there are.
Compare this poem with some other ballad, for example, "Alice Brand" (The Lady of the Lake, Canto IV), to find what is the normal ballad stanza.
Style.—Did Coleridge use language of a time other than his own? Select several words that he would not have used in writing a letter. Do they seem appropriate here? Why? Are the sentences simple or involved?
Are the words common or unusual? Are the most effective words concrete or abstract? figurative or literal? Find examples of alliteration, of onomatopœia, of all the figures of speech that you can find here.
Do the figures of speech make the idea clearer? more beautiful? more impressive? Make a list of five or six of the most effective scenes and decide whether they are effective because of their beauty, their pathos, their horror, or for some other reason.
The Life and Character of the Author.—What do we know of Coleridge's childhood? his school days? his college experiences? his struggles to get on in the world? his radical opinions? his acquaintance with Wordsworth? with Southey? his success as a poet? his other literary work? his domestic life? his decline?
Tell how this poem came to be written. What was Wordsworth's part? In what volume was it first published? What epoch in the history of poetry does this volume mark?