Coleridge Biography

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)

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