Hello and welcome to the Discourse. ‘Metrical Feet’ is a short didactic poem that Coleridge composed as a playful lesson on poetic meter for his younger son, Derwent Coleridge. The poem reflects Coleridge’s dual role as both a loving father and a masterful poet, blending technical instruction with affectionate encouragement. The poem was written around 1806-1807 as a mnemonic device to teach Derwent the basics of prosody (studying poetic meter and rhythm). The poem's full title is "Metrical Feet – A Lesson for a Boy." Unlike dry textbooks, Coleridge turns the lesson into a lively, rhythmic poem, demonstrating each meter he describes. Derwent was one of Coleridge’s three children, and the poem reflects the poet’s hopes for his son’s future (even playfully suggesting Derwent might become a poet). The closing lines express deep paternal love, a theme seen in other works like Frost at Midnight (addressed to his older son, Hartley). The poem showcases Coleridge’s ability to marry form and content: it teaches meter while exemplifying it. Unlike traditional grammar lessons, Metrical Feet is both educational and artistic, making it a unique hybrid. The shift from technical terms to emotional warmth in the final lines highlights Coleridge’s gift for blending intellect and affection.
Structure of Metrical Feet:
Interestingly, while this poem discusses various metrical feet, it does not adhere strictly to a single metrical scheme itself. Instead, Coleridge cleverly demonstrates the very patterns he describes within individual lines. For instance, the first line defines a trochee ("Trochee trips from long to short") and is itself written in trochaic tetrameter (with a catalectic final foot). In the third line, phrases like "Spon-dee stalks" and "strong foot" exemplify spondees, mirroring the heavy, emphatic rhythm they describe. The poem follows a consistent AABB rhyme scheme, lending it a musical, didactic quality. Coleridge also employs several literary devices to enliven the technical lesson:
Personification: Meters become animated figures—the trochee "trips," the spondee "stalks," and the anapests "throng."
Alliteration: Phrases like "Trochee trips," "Slow Spondee stalks," and "stately stride" create a rhythmic pulse.
Metaphor & Simile: The spondee is a "strong foot" (metaphor), while the amphimacer "Strikes his thundering hoofs like a proud high-bred racer" (simile).
Apostrophe & Palilogy: The tender address "My dear, dear child!" combines direct invocation (apostrophe) and repetition (palilogy), emphasizing paternal affection.
Summary of Metrical Feet:
Stanza 1 Lines 1-4
“Trochee trips from long to short;
From long to long in solemn sort
Slow Spondee stalks; strong foot! yet ill able
Ever to come up with Dactyl trisyllable.”
In these lines, Coleridge masterfully combines instruction with demonstration, bringing metrical feet to life through both definition and example. The opening line introduces the trochee with a clear definition - "long to short" (stressed followed by an unstressed syllable) - while simultaneously embodying this meter in its own structure. The line itself is written in trochaic tetrameter, with the final foot being catalectic (missing its last unstressed syllable), creating a rhythmic stumble that mimics the "tripping" motion described. This clever fusion of form and content makes the abstract concept immediately tangible through both auditory and imaginative means.
The poem then shifts to the spondee, characterized by its dual stressed syllables ("long to long"). Coleridge presents this meter as a slow, ponderous creature that "stalks" with deliberate heaviness, reinforced through alliterative phrasing ("Slow Spondee stalks; strong foot!"). The personification here serves multiple purposes: it creates a memorable image, distinguishes the spondee's weighty quality from lighter meters, and introduces a playful narrative element. The observation that the spondee is "ill able ever to come up with Dactyl trisyllable" establishes a humorous hierarchy among meters, contrasting the spondee's plodding nature with the dactyl's swift, three-syllable momentum.
What makes these lines particularly effective is their multi-layered pedagogy. Coleridge operates on three simultaneous levels: providing the technical definition of each metrical foot, demonstrating its sound through the poem's own rhythm, and characterizing each through vivid personification. This trifecta of approaches ensures comprehension through multiple senses and cognitive pathways. The technical terminology ("trochee," "spondee," "dactyl") is balanced by dynamic verbs ("trips," "stalks") and qualitative descriptions ("solemn sort," "strong foot"), making the lesson both precise and engaging. The passage thus transcends dry instruction, becoming instead a miniature drama of competing rhythmic personalities.
Lines 5-10
“Iambics march from short to long;
With a leap and a bound the swift Anapests throng;
One syllable long, with one short at each side,
Amphibrachys hastes with a stately stride.
First and last being long, middle short, Amphimacer
Strikes his thundering hoofs like a proud high-bred racer.”
These lines brilliantly demonstrate Coleridge's pedagogical technique of embodying poetic theory in poetic practice. Beginning with the iamb, the foundational meter of English verse, Coleridge describes its "short to long" (˘ ¯) pattern as a steady march, simultaneously crafting the definition itself in perfect iambic tetrameter. This mirroring of form and content creates an intuitive understanding - the reader both hears and feels the iamb's characteristic rhythm. The marching imagery reinforces the meter's disciplined, regular quality that makes it so prevalent in English poetry, from Shakespeare's sonnets to Wordsworth's lyrics.
The description of anapests (˘ ˘ ¯) as leaping and bounding introduces a completely different rhythmic energy. Coleridge's language becomes appropriately swift and exuberant, with the line "With a leap and a bound the swift Anapests throng" not just describing but performing the anapestic meter through its own galloping rhythm. The verb "throng" suggests a crowd moving quickly, emphasizing how anapests often create a sense of gathering momentum. This contrasts sharply with the preceding iambic line, allowing students to immediately discern the different effects of these meters through both conceptual explanation and sensory experience.
When introducing the amphibrach (˘ ¯ ˘), Coleridge employs spatial language - "one syllable long, with one short at each side" - that helps visualize the meter's symmetrical structure. The description of the amphibrach "hasting with a stately stride" presents an interesting tension between speed and dignity, perfectly capturing this meter's balanced yet forward-moving quality. The stateliness suggests the amphibrach's use in more formal verse forms, while "hastes" maintains the poem's overarching motif of meters in motion, creating a unified metaphorical framework for understanding these abstract concepts.
The amphimacer (¯ ˘ ¯) receives perhaps the most vivid personification, depicted as a racehorse striking its "thundering hoofs." The simile "like a proud high-bred racer" completes the transformation of metrical analysis into an imaginative spectacle, where poetic feet become competing thoroughbreds. This imagery serves multiple pedagogical purposes: the galloping rhythm mirrors the amphimacer's pattern, the thunder suggests its sonic impact, and the aristocratic characterization hints at its classical origins. Through such rich personification, Coleridge ensures that each meter acquires distinct personality traits that aid memorization and appreciation of their unique rhythmic characters.
What makes this passage remarkable is how Coleridge layers multiple teaching methods simultaneously. Each meter is defined technically, demonstrated structurally, and characterized imaginatively. The consistency of the motion metaphor (marching, leaping, striding, racing) creates a coherent framework for understanding diverse metrical patterns. Furthermore, by presenting these meters in quick succession, the poet allows readers to compare their rhythmic effects directly, developing an ear for prosody through experiential learning rather than rote memorization. This approach exemplifies Romantic educational philosophy - transforming technical knowledge into lived, felt experience that engages both intellect and imagination.
Stanza 2 Lines 1-4
“If Derwent be innocent, steady, and wise,
And delight in the things of earth, water, and skies;
Tender warmth at his heart, with these meters to show it,
With sound sense in his brains, may make Derwent a poet—”
In this tender closing stanza, Coleridge shifts from technical instruction to paternal affection, revealing the deeper purpose behind his metrical lesson. The conditional opening—"If Derwent be innocent, steady, and wise"—establishes moral character as the foundation for poetic achievement, suggesting that true artistry springs from virtue as much as from technical skill. The triad of qualities (innocence, steadiness, wisdom) reflects Romantic ideals of the poet as both pure-hearted and discerning, while the enumeration of natural delights ("earth, water, and skies") connects poetic potential to Wordsworthian principles of finding inspiration in nature's simple beauty.
The lines beautifully intertwine emotional and intellectual qualities needed for poetry—the "tender warmth at his heart" balancing "sound sense in his brains." This juxtaposition presents poetry as requiring both passionate feeling and rational control, a synthesis that mirrors the structured creativity of metrical composition itself. The phrase "with these meters to show it" suggests that technical mastery serves as the vehicle for emotional expression, transforming the preceding dry metrical lesson into tools for future artistic creation. The dash at the end of "may make Derwent a poet—" creates a pregnant pause, leaving the possibility open-ended and full of hope rather than presumption.
Coleridge's language here becomes notably warmer and more personal compared to the technical first stanza. The shift from objective metrical analysis to subjective paternal hopes marks the poem's emotional climax, revealing that the entire exercise was never merely about teaching prosody, but about nurturing his son's soul and potential. The conditional phrasing maintains humility—it's not a demand or expectation, but a loving possibility offered should Derwent develop these qualities. This reflects Coleridge's own complex relationship with poetry as both craft and calling, suggesting that while metrics can be taught, the poet's sensibility must grow organically from character and perception.
Lines 5-9
“May crown him with fame, and must win him the love
Of his father on earth and his Father above.
My dear, dear child!
Could you stand upon Skiddaw, you would not from its whole ridge
See a man who so loves you as your fond S. T. Coleridge.”
In these deeply personal closing lines, Coleridge's didactic poem transforms into a moving expression of paternal love and spiritual aspiration. The mention of fame being potentially bestowed upon Derwent ("May crown him with fame") suggests worldly success as a secondary blessing compared to the more profound gifts of love from both earthly and divine fathers. The parallel structure—"his father on earth and his Father above"—creates a sacred symmetry, elevating the father-son relationship to both human and spiritual dimensions while subtly reinforcing Coleridge's theological worldview. This dual blessing implies that true success encompasses both temporal recognition and eternal grace, with poetic achievement framed as a potential pathway to both.
The exclamation "My dear, dear child!" bursts forth with unrestrained affection, its repetition ("dear, dear") conveying overwhelming emotion through the rhetorical device of epizeuxis. This sudden intimate address breaks the poem's earlier technical tone, revealing the tender motivation behind the metrical lesson. The shift to direct speech creates a powerful moment of vulnerability, as if Coleridge can no longer maintain his instructor's detachment. The reference to Skiddaw—a mountain in England's Lake District near where Coleridge lived—grounds this emotional outpouring in their shared physical landscape while employing hyperbole to express ineffable love.
By suggesting that not even Skiddaw's panoramic view could reveal greater love than his, Coleridge uses the mountain's immensity as a measure of his devotion, transforming a geographic feature into a metaphor for paternal affection's boundless nature.
The signature "S. T. Coleridge" serves as both a formal closure and a personal seal, authenticating the poem's intimate message while maintaining the careful construction evident throughout the work. This conclusion masterfully balances several layers: it maintains the poem's didactic purpose by demonstrating how meter can convey profound emotion; it elevates a technical exercise into a spiritual meditation; and it ultimately reveals that the true subject of the poem was never merely poetic feet, but the footsteps of a father's hopes for his son's journey through both art and life. The final image of paternal love visible across mountain vistas suggests that what began as a lesson in scansion has become, in its closing lines, a testament to love's enduring legibility across all landscapes—metrical, terrestrial, and divine.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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