A Complaint

• What conceit does the poem use to explore feelings about love?

  Water
• How does the repetition of "flow" affect the poem's meaning?

  It emphasizes the natural ease of love
• What does the narrator suggest about the inevitability of trouble in the relationship?

  It hints at excess and eventual dissolution
• What metaphor does the narrator use for the relationship in line 3?

  A fountain
• What does the metaphor of the fountain suggest about the relationship?

  It was complex, necessary, and beautiful
• What does the term "consecrated fount" imply about the love?

  It suggests the love was sacred and divine
• How does the narrator feel about the relationship's transformation?

  He feels it has become comfortless and hidden
• What does the metaphor of the well signify in the poem?

  The relationship is now underground and lifeless
• What hope does the narrator express regarding the well?

  There is potential for reawakening love
• What does the symbolism of water evoke in the poem?

  Bitter tears for lost love
• How is the relationship characterized in the poem?

  As emotional and sacred
• What does the title "A Complaint" suggest about the poem's tone?

  It introduces an accusatory tone of bitterness
• What does the present tense in line 1 imply about the relationship?

  It suggests ongoing change and flux
• What do the rhetorical questions in stanza two convey?

  They challenge the other party with bitterness
• What is the rhyme scheme of the poem and its significance?

  • Regular rhyme scheme throughout three stanzas
  • Final couplet rhymes with the opening line
  • Reflects the circular form of the relationship
• How do caesura and enjambment function in the poem?

  • Mixture of caesura and enjambment used
  • Reflects the content of lamenting lost love
  • Balances halting and flowing elements
• What themes does the poem explore in relation to Romanticism?

  • Intense emotions of the individual
  • Possible response to Wordsworth's relationship with Coleridge
  • Friendship and collaboration contrasted with conflict
• What challenges did Wordsworth and Coleridge face in their relationship?

  • Artistic differences
  • Coleridge's opium addiction
  • Strained friendship despite collaboration