SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE – A STUDY

1.1 ENGLISH :

Submitted By:

Raajdwip Vardhan

UID: SM0116035

1st Year 1St Semester

Faculty-in-charge

Ms. Aparajita Dutta Hazarika

National Law University, Assam

CONTENTS

1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………02
1.1 Literature review………………………………………………………………………...03
1.2 Aims and Objectives…………………………………………………………………….04
1.3 Scope and Limitations…………………………………………………………………...04
1.4 Research Methodology………………………………………………………………….04

2. Chapterizations

2.1 Coleridge’s treatment of the natural and supernatural elements in his poetry…………..05
2.1.1 Introduction
2.1.2 Coleridge’s treatment of nature
2.1.3 Coleridge’s treatment of the supernatural

2.2 The influence of Coleridge’s life on his poetry………………………………………….11

2.3 Coleridge as a Critic and literary theorist – an analysis…………………………….........13

3. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………...16

4. Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………...17

1
 INTRODUCTION

One of the most revered poets in the history of English literature, Samuel Taylor Coleridge a
man of stupendous and many-sided genius and fine sensitive moral nature. 1However, a troubled
personal life filled with anguish, anxiety, sadness and loneliness, coupled with ill-health and an
addiction of opium greatly affected his work ethic and poetic abilities. Nonetheless, Coleridge
managed to compose a body of work that has very few parallels in English literature, and was
even regarded by Julius Hare as “the true sovereign of modern English thought”2.

In 1798, Coleridge, in a collaborative effort with William Wordsworth, published ‘Lyrical

Ballads’ and thus ushered in the era of Romanticism in English poetry. Apart from his work in
‘Lyrical Ballads’, some of his other most notable works include his two long poems ‘Christabel’
and ‘Kubla Khan, the latter of which he wrote under the influence of opium, and a collection of
poems called ‘The Conversation Poems’. He also wrote a number of ‘personal poems’ i.e. poems
which were influenced from certain incidences and by certain people in his life. Apart from
being a poetry. Coleridge also wrote a prose work titled ‘Biohraphia Literaria”, a two volume
work which he had intended to write as an autobiography but ended up containing writings on
many more subjects including theology, philosophy and criticisms.

Although he was a noted lecturer and critic too during his lifetime, it was his poetic genius which
helped him achieve fame and admiration among his peers and readers alike. His poetry, as noted
by John Buchan, “represents the culmination of early romanticism in its purest form.” 3
However, what made his poetry unique from that of his contemporaries was his subtle
representation of the supernatural in his poems, and his ability to fuse the supernatural with the
natural. In his subtly suggestive treatment of the supernatural he stands almost alone. His
treatment of religion and spirituality also made his work distinct from that of his contemporaries.

This research paper shall try to show how Coleridge treated the natural and elements in his
poetry. Furthermore, this paper shall also try to show how the people and circumstances of his

1
John Buchan. HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. (1923) pp-423
2
James Dykes Campbell. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE: A NARRATIVE OF THE EVENTS OF HIS LIFE (1984) pp 256
3
AMarnath Prasad. RECRITIQUING S.T COLERIDGE. (2007) pp-259

2
life influenced his poetry. Finally, the paper shall try to analyse the critical works of Samuel
Taylor Coleridge and examine how his theoretical works contributed to the English language.

1.1 LITERATURE REVIEW

 Ernest Hartley Coleridge. The Poems of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1912)

It is an exhaustive and comprehensive collection of the works of Samuel Taylor
Coleridge, collected from various sources and containing poems, summaries, letters and
even fragments of his unfinished works. It aims to highlight the poetry of Coleridge and
elucidate his major contributions to the world of English literature.

 Esther S Brenton. The Treatment of Nature in the Poetry of Coleridge. (1934)

A concise and well-worded article, it analyses the distinct ways in which Coleridge uses
the natural and supernatural elements in his poems. Moreover, it also studies the fusions
between the supernatural and the natural in Coleridge’s poems, with special reference to
his long poems ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ and ‘Christabel’.

 Rosemary Ashton. The Life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1997)

A biographical work on the life and circumstances of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the book
explores the many ups and downs of his life, including his journey as a poet and a critic.
It also explains the influences of people like his wife Sarah Fricker and friend William
Wordsworth on his poetry and personality.

3
 1.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

 How did Samuel Taylor Coleridge treat the natural and supernatural elements in his
poetry?
 How did the circumstances of his life influence his poetry
 What were his contributions to English as a critic and literary theorist?

1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

 To study the treatment of the natural and supernatural elements in the poetry of Coleridge
 To try and understand how the poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge wa influenced by
circumstances in his life.
 To try and understand his work as a critic and literary theorist.

1.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The doctrinal approach has been adopted for the research of this project. For conducting
this project, only the secondary sources of data such as books, articles, journals and web
sources on Samuel Taylor Coleridge have been used for the collection of information.

4
 2.1 Coleridge’s treatment of the natural and supernatural elements in his poetry

2.1.1 Introduction

Often considered one of the greatest poets of English literature, Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s
remarkable treatment of nature, coupled with a vivid imagination and wonderful depictions have
ensured him a place among the best Romanticists of all time. Coleridge preferred the fantasy, the
“suspension of disbelief”, and the supernatural; addicted to opium (not illegal at the time), he
created poems covered with colors, visions, mysterious happenings, exotic themes, etc. 4 His
inclusion of the supernatural in his poems made them distinct from the works of his
contemporaries such as Keats, Wordsworth and Shelley, who limited their scope only to the
realm of the natural. Coleridge also chiefly utilized the power of dreams in his poetry, a clear
example of this can be found in Kubla Khan, a poem that was written under the influence of an
opium-induced dream, and thus the subtitle of the poem: “A Vision In A Dream”. 5

2.1.2 Coleridge’s Treatment of Nature

From the predominance of nature in his writings, it is clear that Coleridge, outright revered
nature, much like the other romanticists of his era. However, unlike his contemporaries, he
believed in depicting the various subtleties of nature, which the average person would otherwise
overlook, delicate images and sensations such as the "stilly murmur of the distant sea 6 or "little
sun7". The delicate and subtle images, which we have noted so far in Coleridge’s descriptions,
provide an accurate representation of certain delicate features of physical phenomena, as they
exist in the external scene, without any influence of the poet’s imagination.

A study of Coleridge’s poetry shows that only two main elements; the landscape scene and the
broad elemental aspects of nature hold his supreme interests in the natural realm. His descriptive
passages in his long poem ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ illustrates almost every element of
4
Rafaella Vasconcellos. ENGLISH ROMANTIC POETS: A BRIEF CHARACTERISATION AND THE PROBLEMATIC OF
DIDACTIC DIVISION OF GENERATIONS. Pp-19
5
Ignacio González Almodóvar. THE CONCEPT OF NATURE IN GTHIC AND ROMANTIC LITERATURE (2014) pp-11
6
Ernest Heartley Coleridge (ed). THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE. (1912) “Eolian Harp S.T
Coleridge” pp-101
7
Ernest Heartley Coleridge (ed). THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE. (1912) “The Three
Graves S.T Coleridge” pp-261

5
nature than one can experience in a sea voyage; the heat of the tropics, of the mild weather of the
temperate zone, and of the extreme cold of the polar region. The storm-blast which sweeps the
ship over the sea, the ice-berg covered sea at the pole, the sea in fog and in mist, each and every
picture of the sea has been made more impressive by the wonderfully imaginative way in which
it has been expressed. In a set of carefully chosen words, Coleridge renders in scene after scene
the sense of vastness of all nature, the vastness which one feels when sailing with an endless
expanse of sea below him and sky above him. 8

Much of Coleridge’s early work was written during his time in Somerset, where he and his friend
Wordsworth would roam the Quantock hills in search of inspiration. It is this view of airy ridges,
a view of the sea and the altogether wonderful charm of the Quantock hills, which finds its way
to Coleridge’s lines ending up in the form of vivid imagery, which Coleridge forms for his
readers. Passage after passage of his poetry is dedicated to showcasing the timeless and eternal
beauty of the natural landscapes, his words successfully capturing both: tiny spots of beauty
which are seen close at hand and the broad view of the hillsides, valleys and seas, as seen from a
height, without any discrimination. 9 His testimonies of the wondrous beauty of the Quantock
hills can be derivd from the lines of his poems, such as ‘The Eoplian Harp’, ‘Dejection: an Ode’
and ‘The Nightingale’. Coleridge also seems to have a certain fondness for night scenes, this
fondness most evident in his poems – ‘Frost at Midnight’, ‘Christabel’, ‘and Nightingale ’,
‘Love’ and ‘Lewti’, all of which have a night setting. Another characteristic feature among these
poems is the eminence of the moon or moonlight, in his poem ‘The Nightingle’, the birds are
pictured on moon-lit bushes and in ‘Lewti’ Coleridge successfully describes the effects on
moonlight on his visions of clouds in the night sky.

In addition to his interests in landscapes and the elements in their broad aspect, Coleridge also
expresses a profound interest in the individual objects and aspects of nature such as the flowers,
the birds and the animals. In his poem ‘The Primrose’, Coleridge considers the flower a
messenger of spring, whereas in another poem ‘The Rose’ he tries to express it as a symbol of his
love for his sweetheart, and calls it ‘the Garden’s Pride’. In his ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, he
presents the albatross as “God’s own gift”. The wanton killing of the albatross invites many

8
Gertrude Garrigues. “Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner”. THE JOURNAL OF SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHY Vol. 14” (1980).
Pp-332
9
Esther S Brenton. THE TREATMENT OF NATURE IN THE POETRY OF COLERIDGE (1934) pp-13

6
perils upon the mariner and his crew, the horrors of which ultimately make the mariner seek
forgiveness for his wrongs.10

Philosophizing on the relationship between nature and man, Coleridge believes that nature has
the power to soothe the troubled spirits of man through its tranquility, in his poem ‘The
Nightingale’ Coleridge tells how his child, who has awakened in a fretful mood, is calmed when
he sees the moon through the lines “he hushed at once”11.

When elements of nature are not presented as either a theme or character, they play an equally
important task in highlighting the beauty of the poem in form of a background for the entire plot.
In his poem “Lewti”, a night scene forms the background of the poem, and the plot revolves
around a young lover who wanders into the night trying to forget the only girl he ever loved.
However, every scene that he witnesses reminds of his beloved. The rock, which shines in the
moonlight, reminds him of her forehead and he begins to draw parallels between his separation
from his beloved and the separation of two clouds in the night sky. Ultimately, the moonlit image
of two swans gliding in the water provide some comfort to his aching heart, and he wonders
“Lewti may be kind tomorrow”12, a thought which begins to soothe him. Although nature was
neither the theme nor the central character, the importance of nature in the entire poem and
adding beauty to it cannot be overemphasized. Coleridge also uses the natural elemts to
emphasise the incidents mentioned in his poems, prime examples of this being his poems “Rime
of the Ancient Mariner” and “Christabel"

2.1.3 Coleridge’s Treatment of the supernatural

As noted earlier, among his numerous equally talent contemporaries, it was Coleridge’s
fascination of the supernatural as well as his remarkable ability to incorporate elements from the
realm o the supernatural into his poetry that made his work distinct. Like Keats who searches for
his identity and his being in the realm of beauty, Coleridge searches for his in the realm of the
10
A.W Crawford. “On Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner” MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES, Vol. 34 ”(1919). PP-311
11
Daniel Braun. TALKING COLERIDGE: THREE CONVERSATION POEMS (2009).pp-26
12
Ernest Heartley Coleridge (ed). THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE. (1912) “Lewti S.T
Coleridge” pp-255

7
supernatural. The themes Coleridge presents in his poetry are the typical themes of Romanticism
i.e. themes characterized by superiority of supernaturalism over nature, individuality over
society, imagination over reality, and emotions over reasons. What distinguishes Coleridge is his
unique ability to present all his themes in a supernatural cloak. 13 Discarding the objective
interpretation of the supernatural, Coleridge adopted a subjective way in which the readers can
interpret the supernatural according to their beliefs and intuitions, a method of expression often
described as Coleridgean.14 One of the most distinguished characteristics of his use of
supernaturalism is the remote setting of the places where these events occur, in ‘Rime of The
Acnient Mariner’ the mariner experiences the supernatural in unknown seas, in ‘Christabel’
Coleridge takes us to the middle ages and in ‘Kubla Khan’ the events take place in the
mysterious land of Xanadu.15

Another characteristic feature of Coleridge’s treatment of the supernatural is his gradual

introduction of the elements. ‘In Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, things mode in a slow pace, the
journey begins with calm and sunny seas, a storm pushes the ship towards a desolate Iceland, a
sole albatross appears, and then once it is killed, the events take a ghastly turn. The crewmen
drop dead one by one, the winds cease to blow and the ship is as stagnant in the ocean as though
it were painted and the specters of ‘Death’ and ‘Life-in-Death’ begin to gamble for the mariner’s
soul.16 As a result, of this slow build up, the readers’ sensibility is so harmonious to the mood of
the narrative that they readily accept whatever they are told. However, Coleridge does not
present the supernatural elements directly to the readers; instead, the readers have to infer the
meaning behind his thought. This is most evident in ‘Christabel’, where the supernatural is
suggested by the midnight atmosphere, the lonely girl in a forest, the dead mother’s tomb, the
mysterious appearance of Geraldine at that time and that place; all these elements suggest
supernatural elements controlling the poem from the beginning to the end. In order to create a
convincing nature for the supernatural in his stories, he humanizes the supernatural elements.
Thus, Geraldine, though a ‘demoniac sublime’, has the features of a human female because she is
beautiful girl, attractive and charming. 17
Writing about his contributions to the Lyrical Ballads,
13
Zaheed Alam. Treatment of Gothic Elements by Early romantics” ASA UNIVERSITY REVIEW Vol.6 (2012) pp-301
14
Zaheed Alam. “Treatment of Gothic Elements by Early romantics” ASA UNIVERSITY REVIEW Vol.6(2012) pp-296
15
Ignacio González Almodóvar. THE CONCEPT OF NATURE IN GOTHIC ROMANTIC LITERATURE. (2014) pp-11
16
M.H Abrams (ed). ENGLISH ROMANTIC POETS: MODERN ESSAYS IN CRITICISM.(1960) pp. 176

17
Esther S Brenton. THE TREATMENT OF NATURE IN THE POETRY OF COLERIDGE (1934) pp-24

8
which includes The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Coleridge says that although his characters
were ‘supernatural, or at least romantic’, he tried to give them a ‘human interest and a semblance
of disbelief’ that would prompt readers to the ‘willing suspension of disbelief… which constitutes
poetic faith”18. In some poems, for instance, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan, ,
the characters, setting and even the narrators are supernatural. In Kubla Khan, the poet represents
himself as a supernatural element, the lines “His flashing eyes, his floating hair!”signifying the
mysterious. 19

The Coleridgean supernatural also lacks any fixed or finite character and thus it is difficult to
determine which part of his tales is real and which are hallucinations. Thus, keeping in line with
his emphasis on the subjective rather than the objective, one needs to assess for himself how
much of Coleridge’s presentation is real. It is therefore upto the reader himself to wonder how
much of the mariner’s real or what the real nature of Geraldine is journey.

A very important and equally remarkable feature of Coleridge’s poetry is his ability to fuse the
natural and the supernatural. The clever blending of these elements is so skillfully done that it
becomes impossible to distinguish between the two, where one begins and the other ends is
almost indeterminable. Coleridge also imparts a remarkable sense of realism to his work, and as
C.M Bowra argued, “since even the unnatural elements are formed from the natural, w are
compelled to believe in them”20 In ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, the curse of nature, which
is supernatural, generates”.more supernatural phenomena. In other words, it is the wanton killing
of the albatross, an entirely natural act, albeit heinous and in no way necessary, which forces the
supernatural elements to begin. Because of the curse which had befallen them due to a
completely natural act, the sun appeared to be streaked with lines and the board together with the
crimson red sun appeared to be peeping through the iron bars of a prison. The crewmen face a
drought which renders their throats parched and them speechless. The 200 sailors in his ship
began dropping dead one by one, and ultimately the mariner began to repent for his actions.
Thus, each supernatural event is linked with another, the supernatural events beginning from the
curse of nature, which befell the mariner when he shot the albatross. In ‘Christabel’, Coleridge
presents subtle hints at the supernatural but never explicitly explains it. By using natural imagery
18
S.T Coleridge. BIOGRAPHIA LITERARIA. (1817) Chapter XIV
19
Ernest Heartley Coleridge (ed). THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE. (1912) “Kubla Khan S.T
Coleridge” pp-298
20
Amarnath Prasad. RECRITIQUING S.T COLERIDGE.(2007) Pp-17

9
he imbibes a sense of spookiness which pertains to the supernatural. He uses three common
everyday objects, an own, a cock and the scenes of midnight at the beginning of the poem which
automatically develops in the reader a sense of dread and horror which is characteristic of the
supernatural. Thus, he exhibits his expertise in the fusion of the supernatural with the natural/

10
 2.2. The influence of Coleridge’s life on his poetry

Despite being a noted poet, critic and lecturer during his lifetime, Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s
personal life was riddled with sadness. As a young man, he lived a life of solitude, loneliness and
mental anguish, coupled with an addiction of opium. However, some of his finest works were
written in order to express his emotions regarding the circumstances of his life, some dedicated
to the women he loved while others were written under the influence of the drug he was addicted
to.21 Nonetheless, all of these works contributed profoundly to his collection of poems and only
elevated his stature as a poet. His unparalleled imaginative abilities, coupled with his amazingly
superior intellect instilled in him the capability to express every one of his emotions through
vivid imagery that readers appreciate until today.

Although a great many people were greatly influential in his poetry, Mary Evans-his first love,
Sarah Fricker-his wife, and Sarah Hutchinson- the woman he fell in love with during his
adulthood, were the most notable. Another great figure in his life was William Wordsworth, his
friend and contemporary, with whom he formed a long a fruitful relationship that ended up being
one of the most productive collaborations in the history of English literature. All of these people
had a profound influence in his poetry which we shall see below.

As noted earlier, Mary Evans was the first woman S.T Coleridge had fallen in love with, even
describing her in one of his letters as “whom for five years I loved almost to madness”22, but
unfortunately, he was never able to confess his feelings for her. Thus, when she wrote him a
letter asking him not to emigrate to the Americas for fulfilling his dreams of establishing a
pantisocracy, his old feelings about her were revisited and he ended up penning down a poem
expressing his emotions. This poem later published as “On a Discovery made Too Late’, showed
Coleridge at his purest emotional best, with lines such as “Thou bleedest, my poor Heart! and
thy distress Reasoning I ponder with a scornful smile” 23perfectly capturing the anguish of his
bleeding heart.

21
E.K Chambers. SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE: A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY.(1938). Pp-34
22
Molly Lefebure. PRIVATE LIVES OF THE ANCIENT MARINER: COLERIDGE AND HIS CHIDLREN. (2013) pp-104
23
Ernest Heartley Coleridge (ed). THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE. (1912) “Kubla Khan S.T
Coleridge” pp-

11
Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s married life was from happy, for he neither loved his wife Sarah
Fricker nor cared for her, and ended up marrying her in 1795 only because he thought it would
somehow contribute to his dreams of establishing a pantisocratic society. However, with his
ideas of pantisocracy having gone up in smoke, Coleridge now ended up with a woman he did
not have any feelings for, since he was still attracted to Mary Evans. This led to bitter quarrels
between the two and a totally failed marriage. What concerns us however is the deep and
profound influence Sarah had on the poetry of S.T Coleridge. It is noteworthy to mention that
one of his most wonderful and famous poems ‘The Eolian Harp’ was one which he had
dedicated to his future-wife Sarah, just before his marriage in 1795. Coleridge also dedicated
another poem to his would-be-wife, this time one of his lesser known works, a poem by the name
of ‘Lines Written at Shurton Bars’.24 Here he starts by comparing nature to an ideal and
wonderful understanding relationship, and ends up discussing about the anguish of isolation.
Such is the beauty of Coleridge and his remarkable ability to incorporate two distinctly opposing
themes into one single poem. After his marriage though, things began to change and he once
wrote to Josiah Wade "My past life seems to me like a dream, a feverish dream! All one gloomy
huddle of strange actions, and dim-discovered motives! Friendships lost by indolence, and
happiness murdered by mismanaged sensibilities." 25 These lines express his suffering,
augmented by the fact that when he wrote this letter he was expecting to become a father since
his wife Sarah was pregnant. During this time, he wrote another poem ‘Reflections on Having
Left a Place of Retirement’ depicting his understandings of marital life and trying to draw
parallels between marital life and nature. However, unlike his earlier poem ‘The Eolian Harp’on
a similar subject, this poem was aimed at exploring the philosophical path of ‘having to abandon
an unity formed as a moral obligation to mankind’.

During this time, Coleridge met William Wordsworth with whom he founded Romanticism and
collaborated later on in the collection of poems titled ‘Lyrical ballads’. This collection contained
the greatest of all of his poems ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, a poem which brought him
great critical acclaim. His relationship with Wordsworth can perhaps be best explained as- “all
that endures of Coleridge’s poetry could easily be contained in fifty pages; and, with few and
doubtful exceptions, it was all written during the six years when he was in constant intercourse

24
Samuel Taylor Coleridge. THE COMPLETE POEMS OF SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE. (2004)
25
Rosemary Ashton. THE LIFE OF SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE. (1997) pp-80

12
with Wordsworth.”26 True enough the greatest and most complete of Coleridge’s work was
penned during his association with Wordsworth, poems such as Christabel and The Nightingale
being a testament to this. However, what makes his relationship with Wordsworth unique is the
great contrast in their styles and the things they held, while Wordsworth drew his strength from
the common things in nature, Coleridge was busy in ‘building a palace in his dreams’27by
infusing elements from the natural, supernatural and even the spiritual and religious.

It was during his association with Wordsworth that Sarah Hutchinson, Wordsworth’s sister-in-
law, came to his life. He immediately fell in love with her and began longing for her company,
but knew it was never going to be possible for divorcing his wife was out of the question.
Suffering under the anxiety and anguish of being unable to wed Sarah Hutchinson, Coleridge
again resorted to poetry to express his emotion, this time penning down a ballad titled ‘Love’,
aimed at addressing his own heartfelt feelings towards Sara Hutchinson, the ballad depicting love
as the supreme emotion. In the poem, he describes the story of a knight, representing himself,
showing his unparalleled love for Genevieve, a character meant to represent Sara Hutchinson.
Drowned in love, Coleridge writes another poem, this time dedicating it directly to his lady-love
Sara. The name of this second poem is ‘To Asra’, a name which is nothing but an anagram of
Sara. He uses the name Asra in another poem of his, ‘A Day-Dream’, where he dreams of
spending a night his first love Mary Evans and his present love Sara Hutchinson.

Thus, we can see that all of these three women had a different influence on his work. While his
love for Mary Evans ended up being expressed in poems full of sorrow due to their separation
and his inability to confess his love, his relationship with Sarah Fricker forced him to
philosophise in his poems the importance of a marital bond. Finally, Sarah Hutchinson
influenced him to pen-down his ideas about love from a mature philosophical standpoint,
contrasted by his hopes of union as well as his sadness from separations.

2.3 Coleridge as a Critic and Literary Theorist – An Analysis

Although Samuel Taylor Coleridge is most well-known today as one of the most talented poets
of the Romantic era, what people often overlook are his skills as a critic. Mainly critical of
Shakespearean literature, Coleridge’s reputation as a critic was so great that the English literary
26
Sir Adolphus William Ward (ed). THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. (Vol IV) pp-123
27
Sir Adolphus William Ward (ed). THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. (Vol IV) pp-127

13
historian George Saintbury considered his talent to be on par with Aristotle and Longinus,
aligning his name with them in his quote – “So, then, there abide these three, Aristotle, Longinus, and
Coleridge.”28 A man of great learning and philosophy, Coleridge’s chief criticisms were of the
works of Shakespeare, Milton and Wordsworth. The only written work of his criticism however
is hs prose work ‘Biogrphia Literaria’ and a series of essays he contributed to Felix Farley’s
‘Bristol Journal’.29 Heavily influenced German criticism as well as the philosophies of Immanuel
Kant, this particular prose work was a mixture of literary criticism, autobiographical works and
the interpretation of literary theory and religion.

However, one must begin to wonder what made Coleridge shift to prose work and criticism when
he had successfully established himself as a noted poet. Perhaps this was from his diminishing
poetic capabilities, his early works being the best and his later works gradually declining in
quality. His personal troubles, sick health as well as a nagging opium addiction might be to
blame for his reduced poetic abilities. His letters to William Godwin in 1801 are a testament to
this for he himself notes in those letters- "The poet in me is dead. I have altogether abandoned
it ... being convinced that I never had the essentials of poetic genius, and that I mistook a strong
desire for original power”. 30

Coming back to his criticisms, his work on Shakespeare's poetic language and dramatic
characters, gives perhaps the best glimpse to the characteristics of his critical writings in
practical criticism. However, he sometimes lacks the objectivity, which Eliot recommends a real
critic should have, and ends up expressing his criticisms from a subjective point of view 31
His
acknowledgement during his criticism of Shakespeare’s Hamlet that he likes it is an example that
backs up the claim regarding Coleridge’s subjectivity. Many of these judgments have something
to do with his psychological and emotional status, which is far from stable or consistent. Thus,
sometimes Coleridge ends up looking at a body of work from his own personal perspectives
rather than from a general standpoint, which is expected from a critic of his stature. Also, his
criticisms are often influenced his ego, which is evident from his ‘Biographia Literaria’, he

28
George Saintbury. A HISTORY OF CRITICISM AND LITERARY TSTE IN EQUROPE FROM THE EARLIEST TEXT TO THE
PRESENT DAY. (Vol III) pp-231
29
Sir Adolphus William Ward (ed). THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. (Vol IV) pp-131
30
Rosemary Ashton. THE LIFE OF SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE. (1997) pp-305
31
Dr. Ibrahim Shalabi and Dr. Alaeddin Sadeq. “Coleridge’s Criticisms” ASIAN SOCIAL SCIENCES vol. VI(2010). Pp-
106

14
dedicated multiple chapters to highlight his own talent and theories, followed by a considerable
number of chapters aimed at ridiculing the theories o his once-good-friend William Wordsworth.
Coleridge also subjects John Keats to such ridicule and criticism, and one begins to wonder
whether there could be any other eason for such treatment other than jealousy or pandering to his
self-ego.

It was not his practical criticisms however, which earned him his stature as one of the most
prominent critics of English literature; rather it was his critical analysis of the theoretical and
philosophical views on English. His works on criticism spanned the scope of multiple broad
topics such as the the nature of the mind, imagination and fancy, the nature of words and their
effect on the creative mind, countering the tenets of neo-classicism. 32 One of his most significant
contributions to literary theory is perhaps his work on how imaginations are conceptualized.
Covering a wide range of disciplines such as philosophy, metaphysics and even psychology,
Coleridge gives priority to what imagination can offer to the realm of literature. Kant’s influence
is hard to miss however, for he had already talked about the significance of the imagination in his
book ‘Critique of Judgment’ highlighting the role of the imagination in the creation of something
beautiful such as poetry. Tackling the psychological aspects, Coleridge tries to rationalize the
mental processes of both the reader and the creator, and the differences in the impacts that the
same body of literature have on both. To sum it up, his writings can be considered a pioneering
attempt, for future theorists , like Koesteller echoed his findings and advanced them in their
writings.

32
Dr. Ibrahim Shalabi and Dr. Alaeddin Sadeq. “Coleridge’s Criticisms” ASIAN SOCIAL SCIENCES vol. VI(2010). Pp-
108

15
 3. Conclusion

A poet of great genius, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, credited for having found the Romantic
Movement, has greatly contributed to the body of work in English literature. Though he was
generally known as a great poet, he was also a critic and theorist of considerable reputation.
Despite suffering from a lifelong illness and personal anguish, as well as a debilitating addiction
to opium, Coleridge managed to compose some of the best romantic poems of English literature.
His utilization of the supernatural in his poetry, coupled with his fusion of the supernatural with
the natural, made his work distinguished from that of his contemporaries. He was also regarded
as having the greatest imagination among the romantics which is evident from his ability to
express and form wonderful imagery

As a romantic, Coleridge focused on the broad elemental aspects of nature in his poetry, forming
vast landscapes and picturesque imagery. His tendency to use the supernatural and gothic
elements in his poetry was also considered second to none among the Romantics. His poetry was
also greatly influenced by some of the people and circumstances of his life, such as his friend
William Wordsworth, his wife Sarah Fricter and the women whom he loved with all his heart,
Sara Hutchinson and Mary Evans. His feelings or these women were often expressed in the form
of poetry, such as the poems dedicated to ‘Asra’, whch was actually an acronym for his lady-love
Sara.

As a critic, his criticism were highly criticized due to their subjective nature, however, his
criticisms of Shakespeare are noteworthy. His works as a literary theorist are also commendable
due to their pioneering nature, a fine example being his work on the conceptualization of
imagination during poetry.

Thus, to conclude, Coleridge was a figure of English romanticism that had very few equals
during his time. Despite never managing a body of work, which could in quantity with some of
his contemporaries like Wordsworth, he maintained an almost impeccable quality, which
cemented his works and his legacy as one of the figureheads of literature.

16
 4. Bibliography

1. Ernest Hartley Coleridge, “The Poems of Samuel Taylor Coleridge”. Oxford University
Press. (1912)

2. M.H Abrams (ed). “English Romantic poets: Modern Essays in Criticism”. Oxford
University Press. (1960)

3. Rosemary Ashton. “ The Life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge” Wiley Blackwell. (1997)

4. Sir Adolphus William Ward (ed). “The Cambridge history of English Literature (Vol IV).”
Cambridge University Press

5. Dr. Ibrahim Shalabi and Dr. Alaeddin Sadeq. “Coleridge’s Criticisms” Asian Social
Sciences vol. VI (2010)

6. Esther S Brenton. The Treatment of Nature in the poetry of Coleridge (1934)

17
18
 Studies in British Literature. Mallikarjun Patil.(2010)

A well-researched and detailed book, it describes the major works of many of the
most famous British writers

19