SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE: A ROMANTIC POET

Richard Connolly

March 1992

Samuel Taylor Coleridge�s poems and writings are the work of a man who had a great love and understanding of poetry. His works are among the best written. Coleridge was well liked and reviewed among his peers and his work is still the subject of literary analysis today.

Coleridge was born in Devonshire in 1772 and died in 1834 at Highgate on the outskirts of London. He was married to Sarah Fricker in 1794, but this marriage did not turn out to be a happy union. The object of Coleridge�s love was Sara Hutchinson, who was William Wordsworth's sister-in-law.

Part of the problem of Coleridge's estrangement from Sarah Fricker would probably be the fact that Coleridge was addicted to opium and was most likely an alcoholic. These problems combined with the fact of his poor health and sense of individuality led to loneliness and a want to escape.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is one of his finest poems. One of the most common references to it is that of the albatross being viewed as a symbol of bad luck. Another reference to this poem is in the novel Iceberg by Clive Cussler. Verses from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner figure prominently in this adventure story set in Iceland.

My interpretation of this poem is that of a fool who destroys a symbol of good fortune and is then punished for his stupidity. He is then repentant for killing the albatross and then is given a new lease on life. The old saying comes to mind; God looks after fools and drunks.

Coleridge composed Kubla Khan in 1797. After a dream induced by an anodyne, a painkiller, while reading Purchas Pilgrimage Coleridge recalled a dream of a mystic place called Xanadu. It was a paradise for him. In it were a sacred river named Alph, caverns that were measureless to man, in a land set in a sunless sea. This is Coleridge�s best poem. It is unfortunate that he was called away by business matter with another person.

Kubla Khan was also the basis for a novel called Down to a Sunless Sea by David Graham. It is about a nuclear catastrophe in which the world�s survivors make an escape down to a sunless sea, the Antarctic icecap.

Some of Coleridges other poems are also very good depictions of natures beauty. They include Frost at Midnight, Fears in Solitude, and The Lime Tree Bower My Prison. Being a romantic poet, he worshipped God through nature and appreciated its beauty.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was one of the great poets of the Romantic Period. Charles Lamb is probably correct in saying, "Never saw I his likeness, nor probably the world can again"

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