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Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Life

  • Born: October 21, 1772, in Ottery St Mary, Devon, England
  • Education: Christ's Hospital School, London; Jesus College, Cambridge (left without degree)
  • Key Relationships: Formed legendary poetic partnership with William Wordsworth; troubled marriage to Sara Fricker
  • Struggles: Battled opium addiction most of his adult life after using it for pain relief
  • Later Years: Became influential literary lecturer and philosopher
  • Died: July 25, 1834, in Highgate, London

People Who Influenced Their Thought

  • William Wordsworth: Collaborative partner during Lyrical Ballads period
  • Immanuel Kant: German idealism deeply shaped his philosophical views
  • David Hartley: Associationist psychology influenced his early thinking
  • Plato: Neo-Platonism informed his metaphysical ideas

Main Ideas and Publications

  • Lyrical Ballads (1798, with Wordsworth): Launch of English Romantic movement, included "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
  • Biographia Literaria (1817): Seminal work blending autobiography, criticism, and philosophy
  • Imagination Theory: Distinguished between primary (perceptual) and secondary (creative) imagination
  • Kubla Khan (1816): Famous fragment poem demonstrating his visionary style
  • The Statesman's Manual (1816): Applied Romantic principles to politics and religion

Controversies around His Main Work or Thought

  • Plagiarism Charges: Accused of borrowing heavily from German philosophers without attribution
  • Opium Influence: Debate continues about how much his addiction shaped his creative output
  • Unfinished Works: Many projects left incomplete, leading to questions about his discipline
  • Political Shift: Radical youth contrasted with conservative later years

Key People Influenced by Their Thought

  • John Stuart Mill: Cited Coleridge as crucial counterbalance to Benthamite utilitarianism
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson: Transcendentalists embraced his organic view of nature
  • J.R.R. Tolkien: Fantasy writers drew from his supernatural imagination
  • Harold Bloom: Modern critics acknowledge his foundational literary theory

Legacy

Samuel Taylor Coleridge redefined English poetry through supernatural imagination while establishing philosophical foundations for Romanticism that influenced literature, criticism, and theology.