In Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Frost At Midnight" the speaker starts off the poem in the present time pondering over the "secret ministry" of the frost. He is noticing how quiet and peaceful it is as he sits with his infant son. However, it is only calm on the surface since amidst the speakers "solitude" there are all of the "numberless goings-on of life" like the cry of the owl, the "populous village" and the "…showed first 75 words of 784 total…

…showed last 75 words of 784 total…than he had, it is easy to conclude that his dreams did not come true. Like in the beginning of the poem, he returns back to the "secret ministry of frost" and to the beauties of all the seasons that his son will enjoy. However, unlike the speaker in the first stanza, who was perplexed by the silence and tranquility, his son will be able to enjoy the solitude and the "secret ministry of frost."