Thiele

= ﻿Samuel Taylor Coleridge  = (1772-1834)  ﻿The Romantic Era

By Silvia Thiele, student at University of Wisconsin - Rock County

** Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born in 1772 in Ottery St. Mary Devonshire. His parents were Reverend John Coleridge and Ann Bowden Coleridge. After his father died of a heart attack in 1781, he was sent to Christ Hospital School. Coleridge loved to read and that’s what he did while away at school. He finished Christ Hospital School and entered Cambridge in 1791. Although he studied there until 1794, he enlisted in the dragoons (army) under the name Silas Tomkyn Comberbache. Coleridge returned to school after his short stint in the army, and in 1794 won an award for a piece of poetry called “Slave Trade.” He met both Robert Southey and William Wordsworth in 1795, as well as his future wife Sara Fricker. He was not in love with her, and although they would have children together, would separate later in Coleridge’s life. In 1798, he was offered an annuity £150 to focus on writing. **

 ** Coleridge was interested in the human mind, and exploring it. He collaborated with Wordsworth because of this similar interest in human nature and they published Lyrical Ballads in 1797. Around this time Coleridge started his drug use, as he is famous for his drug abuse as well as his writing. It is not known exactly how or why Coleridge started using opium, but many speculate it may have been related to toothaches, and rheumatoid illnesses he suffered with as a child. In either case, he became dependent on opium and many believe it affected his work. It is believed some of his major works such as “Kubla Khan”, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, and “Christabel” were products of opium induced hazes. No one knows exactly how much of Coleridge’s writing was written while he was under the influence, but as he grew older, he became sick and the addiction affected his work, as he did not complete a lot of it. He retired to Highgate, with Dr. James Gillman the last part of his life. There he published //Biographia literaria// (1817), //Lay Sermons// (1817), //Aids to Reflection// (1825), and //The Constitution of Church and State// (1829). **  ** Coleridge died July 25th, 1834 in Highgate at age 61 of heart failure. **

 ** Among the themes in his poetry was religion and the and crime and punishment. Although he was also interested in the the individual, these two themes were also prevalent in his poetry. Coleridge linked God and nature together, and thought that ones’ spirituality came for within, what one could imagine: **

 // “God save thee, ancient Mariner! //  // From fiends, that plague thee thus!- //  // Why look’st thou so” –With my cross-bow //  // I shot the Albatross.” //

 ** -The albatross was a good omen from god, and from there on in the poem, chaos ensues mostly by nature, and the Mariner suffers: **

 //“Nor dim nor red, like God's own head,//  //The glorious sun uprist://  //Then all averred, I had killed the bird//  //That brought the fog and mist.//  //'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay,// <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> //That bring the fog and mist.”//

<span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> ** Along with this theme of religion, goes crime and punishment. Not only is the Mariner punished for killing the albatross, but also the whole crew falls dead. But, the Mariner is the one who suffers. **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> //“Alone, alone, all, all alone,// <--- repetition, another literary technique <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> //Alone on a wide wide sea!// <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> //And never a saint took pity on// <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> //My soul in agony.// <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> //The many men, so beautiful!// <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> //And they all dead did lie;// <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> //And a thousand thousand slimy things// <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> //Lived on; and so did I.”//

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> **One other important theme is Good versus Evil, which can also be tied in religion. The following is an example**:

<span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // “For nothing near it could I see, // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // Save the grass and herbs underneath the old tree. // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // And in my dream methought I went // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // To search out what might there be found; // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // And what the sweet bird's trouble meant, // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // That thus lay fluttering on the ground. // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // I went and peered, and could descry // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // No cause for her distressful cry; // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // But yet for her dear lady's sake // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // I stooped, methought, the dove to take, // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // When lo! I saw a bright green snake // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // Coiled around its wings and neck. // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // Green as the herbs on which it couched, // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // Close by the dove's its head it crouched; // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // And with the dove it heaves and stirs, // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // Swelling its neck as she swelled hers! // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // I woke; it was the midnight hour, // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // The clock was echoing in the tower; // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // But though my slumber was gone by, // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // This dream it would not pass away- // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // It seems to live upon my eye!” // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> ** -The bard dreams of a dove and a snake, symbolizing Christabel and Geraldine. The setting is in nature and the snake attacks the dove that is represented as the innocent, or the good, and the snake as the deceitful, or the bad. **

<span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> ** One literary technique Coleridge used was the use of personification, or giving inanimate objects or ideas human characteristics: **

<span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // Rime of the Ancient Mariner: // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // “The Sun now rose upon the right: // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // __Out of the sea came he__, // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // Still hid in mist, and on the left // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // Went down into the sea.” //

<span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // Kubla Khan: // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // “__And ‘mid these dancing rocks__ at once and ever // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // It flung up momentarily the scared river.” //

<span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // Frost at Midnight: // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // “Therefore all seasons shall be sweet to thee, // <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; color: #008080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;"> // Whether the summer __clothe the general earth__…” // **__Sources:__** ** Coleridge, Henry. //"The Literary Remains of Samuel Taylor Coleridge".// Forgotten Books. 2010. print. ** **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">//This is a print version of Samuel taylor Coleridge's works that were discrovered and published after his death, as per his request. This includes manuscripts, poems, letters, and anything unfinished. This is another volume published in april 2010.// ** //** Worthen, John. "The Cambridge Introduction to Samuel Taylor Coleridge".Cambridge Unviversity Press; 1st Edition. 18 October 2010. print. **// **//A 164 page print about the life and work of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. An overall biography with insight to his literary technique and style. It is easy to read and as it says in the title, offers an introduction to his literature. Important for those in search of a biography of the author in print.//**  ** White, Harry. " Coleridge 's Uncertain Agony." //Studies in English Literature 1500-1900// 49.4 (2009): 807-39. //Humanities Full Text//. Web. 8 May 2011. **
 * //This article explores Coleridge's mental state through his literary career, and how his chronic depression played into most of his writing. The author talks about the feelings of guilt and disturbing thoughts and depression Coleridge suffered from throughout his lifetime, and how it directly influenced his works. This article does a really good job of breaking down Coleridge's works and some of the themes in one his his most famous, "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", and "Kubla Khan. One who is researching Coleridge would find this article a helpful guide to understanding some of the themes of guilt, crime, punishment and religion in Coleridge's works. While it is not a biography of Coleridge, it offers analysis of Coleridge as a clinically and famously depressed writer and drug abuser and makes it easier for a confused reader of Coleridge to understand some of his literary works.//**

**Chandler, Alice. Structure and Symbol in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner". //Modern Language Quarterly//; Sep65, Vol. 26 Issue 3, p401, 13p. Web. 8 May 2011.**
 * //This is a literary criticism on "Rime of the Ancient Mariner. This article focuses on the literary techniques such as repetition and symbolism in Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner". Chandler breaks down the patterns in this work, and offers a thorough analysis of these things in this article. Although this is an old article, it is one that I came across that is possibly one the most important to those researching Coleridge. This article provides a strictly educational analysis of the elements that helped construct one of his most famous poems.//**

** Taylor, Anya. "Coleridge and the pleasures of verse." //Studies in Romanticism// 40.4 (2001): 547-69. //Humanities Full Text//. Web. 8 May 2011. **  __//**Websites:**//__  1.) Heuss, Michael R. "About Samuel Taylor Coleridge." Great Literature Online. 1997-2011. []. 8 May 2011.  //-Offers short biography, but most importantly provides access to all of Coleridge's works.//  2.) Samuel Taylor Coleridge- Poets.org [] 13 May 2011. // -Offers guides to major works, and briefly covers romanticism in Coleridge's poetry and prose //
 * //This essay also discusses Coleridge's writing skills, and how important these skills were to him. It offers a look at the experimentation and growth in Coleridge's literature. This article does not focus on one piece, but rather compares and contrasts many of Coleridge's works and style of writing. The article offers discussion on different techniques not talked about in the previous article, such a Coleridge's meter, and versifcation, and how it was simliar and/or dissimiliar to other Romantic poets of the time. This would be a scholarly essay useful to peers researching Coleridge because it also offers educational analysis of his literature and the Romantic era.//**

__ **Major Works:** __

Coleridge and Wordsworth 1798 ||<  || "Stop, Christian passer-by : Stop, child of God, And read, with gentle breast. Beneath this sod A poet lies, or that which once seem'd he-- O, lift one thought in prayer for S. T. C.-- That he who many a year with toil of breath Found death in life, may here find life in death: Mercy for praise--to be forgiven for fame-- He ask'd, and hoped through Christ. Do thou the same."
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, 1798 [[image:rime.jpg width="202" height="295"]] ||  Christabel, 1797-1800 (part 2)  [[image:ChristabelEragny1.jpg width="197" height="288"]]﻿ || Lyrical Ballads,
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Kubla Khan, 1797, published 1816 [[image:waterfall.jpg width="200" height="302"]] || <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Biographia Literaria, 1817  [[image:untitled.png width="195" height="306"]] |||| * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">The Eolian Harp, wirtten 1795, published 1796
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">This Lime-Tree Bower my Prison, 1797
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Frost at Midnight, 1798
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Fears in Solitude, 1798
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">The Nightgale: A Conversation Poem, 1798
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Dejection: An Ode, 1802
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">To William Wordsworth, 1807
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Epitaph, 1833

Nov. 9, 1833. || **__Family/Home:__**  **Wife-** Sara Fricker (1770-1845), married Coleridge October 4th, 1795, asked for seperation in 1806  **Daughter-** Sara Coleridge (1802-1852), works included "The Child", "The Months", "O sleep, my babe", and "Phantasmion"  **Sons-** Hartley Coleridge (1796-1849), works included "To a Cat", "Song", "November", "Friendship", and "Early Death"  Derwent Coleridge (1800-1883), completed some of his father's works, ordained priest, and educator   Berkeley Coleridge (1798-1799), died from reaction to small-pox vaccine  **-Coleridge was the youngest of ten children.** His **parents** were: Reverend John Coleridge (1719-1781) Anne Bowden Coleridge (1726-1809) **Brothers-** John Coleridge (1754-1787) William Coleridge (1755-1756) William Coleridge (1758-1780) James Coleridge (1759-1836) Edward Coleridge (1760-1843) George Coleridge (1764-1828) Luke Coleridge (1765-1790) Francis Coleridge (1770-1792) **Sister-** Anne "Nancy" Coleridge (1767-1791) **Close Friends-** Robert Southey (1774-1843), met in 1794 at Oxford William Wordsworth (1770-1850), met in 1795 in Bristol, collaborated on //Lyrical Ballads// 1797   **__Chronology:__**  1772 - Born in October 21 1781- His father dies 1781 - Following his father's death, he was sent to Christ Hosptial School 1791-94- Enrolled at Cambridge (1793) - Enlisted in the army briefly 1794- Won Browne Gold Medal for "Slave Trade" 1795- Married Sara Fricker 1796- Birth of son Hartley Around 1796- Started using opium for numerous afflictions 1797- Wrote "Kubla Khan" and "Christabel" 1798- Given an annuity to focus on writing 1798- His son, Berkeley Coleridge dies 1798- "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" 1799- Met Sara Hutchinson, tours Lake district 1800- Son Derwent Born 1801- Health problems due to opium addiction 1802- Daughter Sara born 1806- Separates from wife 1816- Retires to the home of James Gillman, continues writing 1833- Writes his own epitaph, fearing his death 1834- Dies of heart failure at age 61, due to complications of his opium addiction   **__Study Questions, Rime of the Ancient Mariner:__** 1. How does is romanticism displayed in Rime of the Ancient Mariner? 2. Describe the connection between God and Nature throughout the poem. 3. How does the Mariner change throughout his ordeal in the poem? 4. How do you think personification affected the mood of the poem?. 5. Are there Gothic elements to this poem?