This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison Analysis

Welcome to the land of symbols, imagery, and wordplay. Before you travel any further, please know that there may be some thorny academic terminology ahead. Never fear, Shmoop is here. Check out our...

Blank VerseThe poem consists of lines that were jotted down by Coleridge when he was sitting in a garden, so it has kind of a spontaneous feel. The Romantics and Coleridge especially were the kind...

The speaker of this poem is an interesting mix of maturity and immaturity. How else can we describe someone who compares a garden where he has to spend a few hours by himself to a "prison," who wor...

The poem begins in a dingy prison cell, with the late-afternoon light slanting down through the wooden bars. The speaker clinks his English tea-cup against the bars, whistling a tune with downcast...

You have to love a poem that opens with the word, "Well," as if the writer were just letting off steam. Think of a poem that begins, "Well, this stinks," and you'll have an idea of the tone that he...

The title of the poem comes from the second line comes from the second line of the 1834 revision of the poem, and the third line of the original version. The title has a catchy, arresting sound. Ra...

Pantheism…Is he, or isn't he?Welcome to the most famous nineteenth-century religious controversy you've never heard of. The great Pantheism debate! In one corner we have the Pantheists, who i...

(5) Tree LineBelieve it or not, in his day Coleridge's writing style was thought by some to be too casual and conversational. Poems like "This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison" were thought to approximate...

Coleridge sent this poem in a letter to his friend and fellow poet Robert Southey. At one point, Coleridge and Southey had planned to flee to America and start a utopian society on the banks of the...

GThere's no sex here. However, some people think that Coleridge's wife was the one who spilled the skillet of hot milk on his foot. In fact, the story of Coleridge's marriage is an interesting one,...

Historical ReferencesCharles Lamb (Dedication)The India House, London (Dedication)The murder of Charles Lamb's mother (line 33)