Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The Wordsworth Poetry Library comprises the works of the greatest English-speaking poets, as well as many lesser-known poets. Each collection has a specially commissioned introduction.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Literature, Academic, Fiction, British Literature, English Literature

614 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1950

About the author

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) was an English poet, critic, and philosopher who was, along with his friend William Wordsworth, one of the founders of the Romantic Movement in England and one of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan, as well as his major prose work Biographia Literaria.

Reviews

[Janet Keeten · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say about Coleridge? You are inexplicably drawn to the heart and soul and beauty. Well, maybe not so inexplicable. His poetry calls to me, the siren drawing me to the rocks of despair. His plays, the bread and butter of my master's degree. Highly intelligent, sadness abounding, but a true craftsman of words and ideas, going to a level you did not think possible.

[Brooke Andria Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m here for Michael Sheen

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

In English major circles, Samuel Coleridge is famous for introducing the concept of suspending disbelief.

As I understood this, he didn't mean allowing yourself to identify with fictional characters or believe that a good yarn was plausible.

To this reader of Coleridge -- an admirer, but no way a scholar -- the great British poet meant that we readers could give ourselves inner permission to believe in what was greater, nobler, more mysterious, suffused with spiritual grace.

That's why I've read him. That's why I love him.

In "Lyrical Ballads," which Coleridge cowrote with Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge wrote that both reading and creating poetry required, "That willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith."

[David Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some truly outstanding poems in this collection. The most well known among them would be 'The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner', although Christabel is one of my personal favourites.

There are varying themes within this volume, ranging from love and loss and bereavement, to praise for the beauty of nature and Christianity, and occasionally the darker edged supernatural elements.

This collection will some times, make you feel at ease, at others, make you feel intense emotions. The descriptive style of the poetry , particularly when describing days spent in the countryside, is like having Mr Coleridge as your personal guide. A big surprise for me, was seeing the poem Epitaph. It is only a few lines, but it says so much.

You may not enjoy the entire volume (some of these poems were not my cup of tea), but this is worth reading if you have even a passing interest in poetry as there will be something for you within these pages.

[Lydia Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read for my university course. As with Wordsworth and `Keats, I’ve loved Coleridge’s work for years. His poetic voice is truly one of the strongest I’ve encountered, and dissecting his poetry in the context of Wordsworth’s creative development has enabled me to nurture a deeper understanding of each poet as singularities, as well as the unique intimacy of their creative relationship. Yet another master of the natural world, as well as the imaginative inner world of man, Coleridge needs no further praise from me.

[Eti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I admire "The Rime of Ancient Mariner" by Samuel,brilliant it is.

[keereads]

✔️

[Aria]

I did not flip through this exact book, but it was also a volume of his complete works.

[Hope Tull · Rating 2 out of 5]

British Lit class

[Duckpondwithoutducks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certain poems by poets are better known than others, and for good reason:
Kubla Khan (In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure-dome decree)
and
The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner (As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean; Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink)
are so memorable.

Many other poems by Coleridge aren't quite as memorable, but I enjoyed them quite a bit, more so than his plays, though even the plays had some interesting lines:

"What the mind believes impossible, the bodily sense is slow to recognize."

"Time works miracles. In one hour many thousands of grains of sand run out; and quick as they, thought follows thought within the human soul. Only one hour! Your heart may change its purpose, his heart may change its purpose - some new tidings may come; some fortunate event, decisive, may fall from Heaven and rescue him. O what many not one hour achieve! ... You but remind me, how precious every minute is!"

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Presence of Love

And in Life's noisiest hour,
There whispers still the ceaseless Love of Thee,
The heart's Self-solace and soliloquy.

You mould my Hopes, you fashion me within;
And to the leading Love-throb in the Heart Thro' all my Being, thro' my pulse's beat;
You lie in all my many Thoughts, like Light,
Like the fair light of Dawn, or summer Eve On rippling Stream,
or cloud-reflecting Lake.

And looking to the Heaven, that bends above you, How oft!
I bless the Lot that made me love you.
-SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE

[P.S. Clinen]

Absolutely adored 'Rime Of The Ancient Mariner'. A beautiful and haunting piece - left me stunned. Read a large majority of his other works, the 'Kubla Khan' and 'Christbel' staples were very well written. Felt that Coleridge may have been an influence for early Gothic, many of his works carried great imagery and melancholy. As a Christian, I related well with Coleridge's philosophies. Safe to say he has become one of my favourite poets.

[K Brekker · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the reading of selected poetry for an English Literature class, I find Coleridge’s style of poetry to be rather intriguing. The non-linear, dreamlike structure of his poems makes his style stand out from the other poets of his time, and displays to the readers the wondrous workings of his mind

[Francais Prince · Rating 4 out of 5]

brilliant

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times magnificent ("Frost at Midnight"), at times mundane ("Fears in Solitude").

[mizzle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Lime Tree Bower My Prison
Kubla Khan
Frost at Midnight
Rime of the Ancient Mariner