Samuel Taylor Coleridge as a Romantic Poet

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)

Introduction 

Coleridge is arguably the second most important figure in the Romantic revival in the late 18th century. Coleridge and William Wordsworth were close friends and collaborators who together wrote The Lyrical Ballads (1798), which is regarded as the manifesto of the creed of the Romantics. 

While Wordsworth took Nature as the main theme of his poems, Coleridge focused more on the supernatural and the extraordinary world.

 Coleridge’s works at a glance: 

Rime of the Ancient Mariner- The poem applies a medieval ballad form and is full of allegories (a story, poem or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning typically a moral or political one.) and symbolism. It is presented in the form of recollection, as the old mariner narrates the episode of the killing of the albatross and the consequent curse that befell on the ship. (a famous line: “Water, water, everywhere/ Not any drop to drink”)

Christabel: An allegorical poem full of sinister and grotesque images of the past bearing an effect on the present reality. It is also an incomplete poem like “Kubla Khan”.

Coleridge also wrote different poems on everyday life and his surroundings, too, like “Frost of Midnight”, “This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison”, etc.

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Although Wordsworth wrote till the end of his life, Coleridge felt that his poetic inspiration had deserted him so he stopped writing poetry. In the three decades of his life, Coleridge wrote philosophical works and essays in the field of literary criticism.

Biographia Literaria (1817) is regarded as the most significant work in the field of criticism. It is a critical autobiography of the poet in two volumes. It contains 24 chapters. In chapter IV and XIV, Coleridge appreciates his friend Wordsworth’s poetry. In chapter XIII, he has distinguished between primary and secondary imagination. Primary imagination according to Coleridge is: “living power and prime agent of all human perception”. The secondary imagination whereas is “an echo” of the Primary. However, The secondary imagination dissects what has been seen in order to invent new ideas or objects. The secondary imagination does not only copy, but also creates. Thus , the process through which our minds reconstruct events in connection to how we perceive the outside world is known as secondary imagination. For example one visited the beach and remembers the sound of the waves and the birds and he remembers the intensity of the sun, this is the primary imagination. Secondary imagination includes one’s perception of that beach experience, for example the imagination of the beach for one may be beautiful. He remembers how the sun kissed his skin and the waves wet his feet. He remembers his laughter and the beauty of the sky. Similarly, he may have a poor imagination: he remembers that he was crying, the sun was too hot, he had a migraine and the sand had filled his shoes and stuck to his pants. 

Read his poem “Kubla Khan” here.