English lyrical poet, critic, and philosopher, whose LYRICAL BALLADS,
written with William Wordsworth, started the English Romantic movement Altho!gh Coleridge"s poetic achievement was small in #!antity, his metaphysical an$iety, anticipating modern e$istentialism, has gained him rep!tation as an a!thentic visionary Shelley called him %hooded eagle among &lin'ing owls% "The influence of Coleridge, like that of Bentham, extends far beyond those who share in the peculiarities of his religious or philosophical creed. He has been the great awakener in this country of the spirit of philosophy, within the bounds of traditional opinions. He has been, almost as truly as Bentham, 'the great uestioner of things established'! for a uestioner needs nor necessarily be an enemy." ()ohn St!art *ill, +rom Coleridge, ,-./0 Sam!el 1aylor Coleridge was &orn in 2ttery St *ary, Devonshire, as the yo!ngest son o+ the vicar o+ 2ttery St *ary 3e was the yo!ngest o+ ten children, adored &y his parents 3is +ather, the Reverend )ohn Coleridge, was already +i+ty4three years old Ann Bowdon, the da!ghter o+ a +armer, his second wi+e, was +orty4+ive at that time Later Coleridge descri&ed his childhood as +!ll +antasy5 %At si$ years old I remem&er to have read Belisarius, Robinson Crusoe, and Philip Quarll 4 and then I +o!nd the Arabian Nights' entertainments 4 one tale o+ which (the tale o+ a man who was compelled to see' +or a p!re virgin0 made so deep an impression on me (I had read it in the evening while my mother was mending stoc'ings0 that I was ha!nted &y spectres whenever I was in the dar' 4 and I distinctly remem&er the an$io!s and +ear+!l eagerness with which I !sed to watch the window in which the &oo's lay 4 and whenever the s!n lay !pon them, I wo!ld sei6e it, carry it &y the wall, and &as', and read% A+ter his +ather"s death, Coleridge was sent away to Christ"s 3ospital School in London Coleridge st!died at )es!s College 3e 7oined in the re+ormist movement stim!lated &y the 8rench Revol!tion, and a&andoned his st!dies in ,9:; In desperation, a+ter an !nhappy love4a++air and pressed &y de&t, he enlisted in the ,<th Light Dragoons !nder the name o+ Silas 1om'in Com&er&ache Soon he reali6ed that he was !n+it +or an army career and he was &ro!ght o!t !nder "insanity" cla!se &y his &rother, Captain )ames Coleridge In Cam&ridge Coleridge met the radical, +!t!re poet la!reate Ro&ert So!they (,99.4,-.;0 in ,9:. Coleridge moved with him to Bristol to esta&lish a comm!nity, &!t the plan +ailed In ,9:< he married the sister o+ So!they"s +ianc=e Sara 8ric'er, whom he did not really love Coleridge"s collection >2E*S 2? @ARI2AS SAB)EC1S was p!&lished in ,9:B, and in ,9:9 appeared >2E*S In the same year he &egan the p!&lication o+ a short4lived li&eral political periodical The Watchman 3e started a close +riendship with Dorothy and William Wordsworth, one o+ the most +r!it+!l creative relationships in English literat!re 8rom it res!lted Lyrical Ballads, which opened with Coleridge"s "Rime o+ the Ancient *ariner" and ended with Wordsworth"s "1intern A&&ey" 1hese poems set a new style &y !sing everyday lang!age and +resh ways o+ loo'ing at nat!re "1he Rime o+ the Ancient *ariner", a BC<4line &allad, is among his essential wor's It tells o+ a sailor who 'ills an al&atross and +or that crime against nat!re end!res terri&le p!nishments 1he ship !pon which the *ariner serves is trapped in a +ro6en sea An al&atross comes to the aid o+ the ship, it saves everyone, and stays with the ship !ntil the *ariner shoots it with his cross&ow 1he motiveless malignity leads to p!nishment5 %And now there came &oth mist and show, D And it grew wondro!s coldE D And ice, mast high, came +loating &y, D As green as emerald% A+ter a ghost ship passes the crew &egin to die &!t the mariner is event!ally resc!ed 3e 'nows his penance will contin!e and he is only a machine +or dictating always the one story When *rs Bar&a!ld o&7ected to Coleridge that the poem lac'ed a moral, the poet told her that %in my own 7!dgment the poem had too m!chE and that the only or chie+ +a!lt, i+ I might say so, was the o&tr!sion o+ the moral sentiment so openly on the reader as a principle or ca!se o+ action in a wor' o+ p!re imagination% 1he &rothers )osiah and 1homas Wedgewood granted Coleridge an ann!ity o+ ,</ po!nds, th!s ena&ling him to p!rs!e his literary career Disenchanted with political developments in 8rance, Coleridge visited Fermany in ,9:-4:: with Dorothy and William Wordsworth, and &ecame interested in the wor's o+ Imman!el Gant 3e st!died philosophy at FHttingen Aniversity and mastered the Ferman lang!age 3owever, he considered his translations o+ 8riedrich von Schiller"s plays +rom the trilogy Wallenstein distaste+!l At the end o+ ,9:: Coleridge +ell in love with Sara 3!tchinson, the sister o+ Wordsworth"s +!t!re wi+e, to whom he devoted his wor' DE)EC1I2?5 A? 2DE (,-/C0 D!ring these years Coleridge also &egan to compile his ?21EB22GS, daily meditations o+ his li+e S!++ering +rom ne!ralgic and rhe!matic pains, Coleridge had &ecame addicted to opi!m, +reely prescri&ed &y physicians In ,-/. he sailed to *alta in search o+ &etter health S!pplied with an o!nce o+ opi!m and nine o!nces o+ la!dan!m, he wrote in his 7o!rnal5 %2 dear FodI give me strength o+ so!l to ma'e one thoro!gh 1rial 4 I+ I land at *alta D spite o+ all horrors to go thro!gh one month o+ !nstim!lated nat!re% 3e wor'ed two years as secretary to the governor o+ *alta, and later traveled thro!gh Sicily and Italy, ret!rning then to England In ,-/:4,/ he wrote and edited with Sara 3!tchinson the literary and political maga6ine The !riend 8rom ,-/- to ,-,- he he gave several lect!res, chie+ly in London, and was considered the greatest o+ Sha'espearean critics According to the poet, he heard the words to his +amo!s "G!&la Ghan" in a dream %In Janad! did G!&la Ghan D A stately pleas!re dome decree5 D Where Alph, the sacred river, ran D 1hro!gh caverns meas!reless to man D Down to a s!nless sea D So twice +ive miles o+ +ertile gro!nd D With walls and towers were girdled ro!nd5 D And there were gardens &right with sin!o!s rills, D Where &lossomed many an incense4&earing treeE D And here were +orests ancient as the hills D En+olding s!nny spots o+ greenery% (+rom "ubla "han, ,9:-0 "Christa&el" and "G!&la Ghan' circ!lated many years in oral +orm &e+ore p!&lication, and especially "Christa&el" in+l!enced later the wor's o+ Sir Walter Scott and Lord Byron In the s!mmer o+ ,9:9 the a!thor had retired to a lonely +arm4ho!se &etween >orloc' and Linton 3e had ta'en anodyne and a+ter three ho!rs sleep he wo'e !p with a clear image o+ the poem Dist!r&ed &y a visitor, he lost the vision, with the e$ception o+ some eight or ten scattered lines and images *odern scholarship is s'eptical o+ this story, &!t it reveals Coleridge"s interest in the wor'ings o+ the s!&conscio!s In ,-,/ Coleridge"s +riendship with Wordsworth came to crisis, and the two poets never +!lly ret!rned to the relationship they had earlier D!ring the +ollowing years, Coleridge lived in London, on the verge o+ s!icide RE*2RSE, a play which he had written many years earlier, was s!cces+!lly prod!ced at the Dr!ry Lane theatre in ,-,; 3e received K.//, which he spent in a +ew monts A+ter a physical and spirit!al crisis at Freyho!nd Inn, Bath, he s!&mitted himsel+ to a series o+ medical r=gimes to +ree himsel+ +rom opi!m 3e +o!nd a permanent har&or in 3ighgate in the ho!sehold o+ Dr )ames Fillman, and en7oyed almost legendary rep!tation among the yo!nger Romantics D!ring this time he rarely le+t the ho!se In ,-,B the !n+inished poems "Christa&el" and "G!&la Ghan" were p!&lished, and ne$t year appeared SIBYLLI?E LEA@ES A+ter ,-,9 Coleridge devoted himsel+ to theological and politico4sociological wor's 4 his +inal position was that o+ a Romantic conservative and Christian radical %Every re+orm, however necessary, will &y wea' minds &e carried to an e$cess, that itsel+ will need re+orming,% he wrote in BI2FRA>3IA LI1ERARIA (,-,90 Coleridge contri&!ted to several maga6ines, among them Blac#$ood's %dinburgh &aga'ine In ,-C. Coleridge was elected a +ellow o+ the Royal Society o+ Literat!re 3e died in 3ighgate, near Londonon )!ly C<, ,-;. Coleridge"s da!ghter Sara (,-/C4,-<C0 was also a writer and translator She p!&lished children"s verse, >RE11Y LESS2?S I? @ERSE 82R F22D C3ILDRE? (,-;.0 and >3A?1AS*I2? (,-;90 When her h!s&and died she too' !p the tas' o+ editing her +athers wor's