Journeys

Imaginative Journeys

The Imaginative Journey is one that is intangible, and remains un-bounded to the realms of the physical world by means of; time, reality and consciousness. It provides the ability to those who undertake such a journey, to consider and thus in some instances comprehend, the cognitive processes of their inner psyche. The poems; “Frost at Midnight”, and “This Lime-Tree Bower my Prison” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge encompass such aspects of the imaginative journey. This is enabled as Coleridge endows the reader with an account of his personal experiences that have at the outset restricted him, but rather as he comes to terms with his predicament he is able to surmount these dilemmas. The children’s novel Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce, also portrays various aspects of the notion of an imaginative journey, which are expressed by the means of dreams within which we are free but whilst awake remain oppressed. Finally the short film A-Z directed by Zenon Kohler, shown in the “2007 Sony Trop-fest finalist CD” renders to the viewer a satirical, example of the inner psyche working defiantly against logic, when in reality it is presented with obstacles and choices.

“Frost at Midnight” is the imaginative journey of Coleridge, as he is left alone with his child under the mystical effects of the frost which “performs its secret ministry.” He is catalysed by the placidity of the milieu, to envisage his childhood through the eye’s of his baby. By doing so he relives some joyous moments of his childhood, whilst also foreseeing some of the delights that were to follow his child’s upbringing. The tone of the poem initially is serine with “The inmates of my cottage, all at rest…My cradled infant slumbers peacefully” giving the reader a perception of absolute silence with correspondence to the effects of the frost, drawing upon sentiments of serenity. The poem soon evolves into Coleridge reliving his childhood with memories such as “how oft, at school…Of my sweet birth-place, and the old church-tower” bringing upon the proposition of Coleridge’s youth, allows readers to emote with his childhood, and take on the journey with him to the surroundings with which he was raised. Coleridge continues to give memories of his youth, with vivid illustrations of his curious nature “Presageful, have I gazed upon the bars…so sweetly that they stirred and haunted me, with a wild pleasure falling on mine ear…For still I hoped to see the stranger’s face.” This element of curiosity brings the aspect of youth to the reader where a young mind delves into the depths of its imagination when presented with something it is naÐ"Їve to. Coleridge finally goes on to foresee what is to come for his child’s rearing. “Thou, my babe! Shalt wander like a breeze by lakes and sandy shores, beneath the crags of ancient mountains, and beneath the cloud which imagine in their bulk both lakes and shores” Coleridge romanticises the beauties of nature and contrasts this to his own upbringing “For I was reared in the great city, pent вЂ?mid cloisters dim.” By juxtaposing the two settings so vividly as a reader we are drawn to think of the city to have negative qualities, being dark and grim, however whilst in nature to be a bountiful place of joy and ecstasy.

Coleridge’s “This Lime-tree Bower my Prison” is the workings of Coleridge’s psyche as he is forced by physical restrains to the haven of a Lime-Tree bower, whilst his family and friend endeavoured on a nature walk. The tone initially is that of anger, dismay and resent “and here I must remain, this lime-tree bower my prison!” The use of an exclamation emphasises to the reader as to the vanity of Coleridge’s predicament, refrained to such a surrounding as he believes he was forsaken before the group outing. As he continues “I have lost beauties and feelings, such as would have been most sweet to my remembrance even when age had dimm’d mine eye’s to blindness!” it is clear to the reader as to the disappointment Coleridge experiences having missed such an opportunity emoting sympathy as Coleridge continues to illustrate the pathetic nature of his circumstance. However Coleridge realises that it is possible for him to take such a journey with his friends, whilst not physically, in his imagination. Coleridge’s tone changes dramatically, to illustrate nature with buoyant imagery. “The many-steepled tract magnificent…the slip of smooth clear blue betwixt two Isles” He once again references the joy and ecstasy brought with nature and goes further to relate city life with satanic or hellish imagery. “For though has pined and hunger’d after Nature…in the great City pent…through evil and pain.” The capitalisation of “Nature”

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