On this date in English literary history – October 21,
1772, poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born in the small town of Ottery St.
Mary in Devonshire, England. Coleridge's father died when he was a boy, and
young Samuel was sent off to boarding school in London and eventually attended Cambridge.
After becoming disillusioned with school he fled his debtors and enlisted in
the cavalry, which he later abandoned with help from his brothers. He then returned
to Cambridge, where he met poet Robert Southey. The two dreamed of one day establishing
a utopian society in Pennsylvania. In 1795, Coleridge met poet William
Wordsworth. The two became close friends and collaborators, assisted by Dorothy
Wordsworth, the poet's sister. The siblings moved near Coleridge, and in 1798 Wordsworth
and Coleridge published Lyrical Ballads,
which established the Romantic school of poetry. It included Coleridge's famous
poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner."
Coleridge's life began to unravel at the turn of the
century. He became estranged from his wife and fell in love with Sara
Hutchinson, whose sister married William Wordsworth three years later. Meanwhile,
his health began to suffer, and he began taking large doses of opium to control
his rheumatism and other problems. He became addicted to the drug, and his
creative output waned. In 1810, he broke with Wordsworth, and the two would not
reconcile for nearly 20 years. During this period, Coleridge supported himself through
a series of successful lectures on literature. Meanwhile, he single-handedly
wrote, edited, and distributed his review, The
Friend. In 1813 he published, Remorse,
which was well received by critics. Thanks to the help of Dr. James Gillman and
his wife, Coleridge began to cut back on his opium use. In 1816, he published
the fragmentary poem "Kubla Khan," written under the influence of
opium, circa 1797. In 1817, he published a significant work of criticism, Biographa Literaria, and in 1828 was
reconciled with Wordsworth. Coleridge died at Highgate, London on July 25, 1834
from heart failure.
Michael Thomas Barry is the author of numerous books that
includes the gold medal winning Literary
Legends of the British Isles: The Lives and Burial Places of 50 Great Writers.
Visit Michael’s website www.michaelthomasbarry.com
for more information. The book can be purchased from Amazon through the
following link:
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