The origins of "This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison"

Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison" is a poem written in a very personal manner, where Coleridge describes a time he went walking through the countryside with his friends, but could only walk so far because of a minor foot injury he had at the time. I was interested in looking into the background of this poem after professor Jones told us the cause of Coleridge's injured foot (apparently, his wife had accidentally spilled boiling milk onto it) because of its very personal nature to see if I could find out a little bit more about the context in which it was written. Apparently, Coleridge and his wife, Sara Fricker, had been spending a lot of time with some of Coleridge's friends (including the Wordsworths) during the summer of 1797. At the time this particular poem was written, they were at Thomas Poole's home at Nether Stowey, in the beautiful countryside, where Coleridge spent much time in nature and in a little cottage writing poetry. He and his wife had been going through a troubling time in their relationship- Sara had had a miscarriage during this summer. This poem was written under a particular lime tree that Coleridge had particularly favored in a note to Poole.

It seems then, in this light, like Coleridge was feeling similarly loving and (perhaps this is a bit too strong of a word, but) resentful towards both his wife and the lime-tree. Regardless of whether or not he actually felt resentment towards his wife regarding the miscarriage, both the lime-tree and his wife were living things he loved and found beautiful- but also imprisoned him. Interestingly enough, while this poem was meant to be dedicated to the general group of friends with whom he had been spending time that summer, including his wife, her name was left out of the dedication upon publication. It is certainly a stretch to say that the poem represents disdain or resentment that Coleridge might have felt towards his wife. However, I think its fascinating to do a little detective work and figure out the state of mind that an artist is in when he creates his art; to broaden perspective while reading poetry.