Sonnet: On Receiving a Letter Informing Me of the Birth of a Son (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

Sonnet: On Receiving a Letter Informing Me of the Birth of a Son by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Obviously, from the title, this is a sonnet. It's 14 lines and rhymes, but it's not the sonnet I'm most familiar with (Shakespearean) since the rhymes are patterned differently.

Can I bring my modern sensibilities to this 1700s/1800s poem and think less of the father - that he doesn't know his kid is born until he gets a letter about it. Let's pretend he's off to war and a letter is the only way to tell him the news. Yes, let's go with that.

His response to the news is conflicted. He's very torn up over it, it seems and instantly turns to prayer. Doesn't sound like praise though. I don't get the sense that he's happy (as he prays, he "inly felt/No heavenly visitation upwards draw/My feeble mind, nor cheering ray impart.").

Perhaps he's just overwhelmed and being honest. He first turns to prayer, but is too overwhelmed with emotion; he cannot make a spiritual connection. He is later (in writing the poem) better able to communicate and prays again. This time he is able to get out his wish for his son's redemption.

Favorite line: "inly felt"