What does the poem This Lime Tree Bower My Prison by : Samuel Taylor Coleridge mean?

[synopsis]

Coleridge' friends are going for a walk together, but he cannot go with them. (Coleridge had his foot scalded in an accident, and also felt he needed to stay with his wife who had recently miscarried).

Coleridge sits under a lime-tree, wishing he was with his friends, and imagining what they are doing.

After a while he realises that he isn't with his friends, but his imagination is nearly as good as being there. And also he is experiencing the quiet magic of the lime-tree where he has been forced to stay alone. It is all good.

The message of the poem is in the lines:

Henceforth I shall know
That Nature ne'er deserts the wise and pure;

Coleridge is saying it doesn't matter so much what you do, who you are is what decides the quality of your life. If you keep your eyes open, if you stay sharp - there is always something worth seeing, and feeling.

He has missed out on the trip with his friends, but he has had a few hours of quiet contemplation of nature instead. He has learned something. It is all good.