With a leap and a bound the swift Anapaests throng
This fun line is a wonderful example of what Coleridge accomplishes in the first half of the poem: simultaneously defining and illustrating the different metrical feet found in poetry. Here, he illustrates the rhythm and form of a trisyllabic anapest by using the stressed syllables "leap" and "bound" to punctuate the two unstressed syllables that come before them, as if the stresses themselves are jumping a great distance from one to the other.
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.
The repetition of Derwent's name in these lines indicates that the poem's true audience is Derwent himself. This turns the poem into a very direct and personal appeal from the poet to his own son, who he hopes will use his newfound poetic knowledge to embark on his own poetic creations. Coleridge's suggestion that a poet is composed of innocence, tenderheartedness, and respect for the elemental forces of nature reveals the poet's own Romantic leanings.
"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."
Skiddaw is a mountain found in England's lake district, which was home to a group of writers called "The Lake Poets." This group primarily consisted of Coleridge, William Wordsworth and Robert Southey, but also occasionally included some of their shared friends and associates. In effect, Coleridge's use of the landmark in the last line both indicates a real place Derwent would have known well, and also paints Coleridge's hopes for Derwent's own poetic ambition—that his son stand atop the highest peak in a community of respected poets.
