Samuel Taylor Coleridge

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Bestselling series of gift-size anthologies. The series contains selected poetry and prose from some of the most famous English and Scottish poets. An attractive six-pocket display pack is also available. Jarrold Publishing.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, British Literature, Nonfiction, 19th Century, Literature

105 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

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

[Ulysse · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Purloined Review
I was writing a review of these poems--it was going to be a fabulous review, my very best--a review worthy of a hundred likes. But then a person on business from Porlock came knocking at my door, and I was detained by him above an hour. When I'd finally got rid of the importunate fellow and returned to my desk to resume my task, the review was gone.

[Dolors · Rating 4 out of 5]

That willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith. Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Although this is a very short selection I have taken my time to savor each of its poems, as they deserve. I had always heard of Coleridge associated with Wordsworth so I assumed their works to be similar and therefore wasn't expecting fireworks. One of the advantages of ignorance is that from time to time you are pleasantly rewarded with unexpected surprises.
I felt instantly drawn to Coleridge's poems, which resemble Wordsworth's in its idealization of nature and its emphasis on human joy, but Coleridge's often favor musical effects over the plainness of common speech, making them sound alien and strangely perceptive.
Take his poem Kubla khan:

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea.

He is daring when Wordsworth was conservative, introducing some fantasy and mysticism in his poems, creating a more strikingly stylised effect than his contemporary.
Further, Coleridge’s poems complicate the idea Wordsworth takes for granted: the simple unity between the child and nature and the adult’s reconnection with nature through memories of childhood.
In poems such as Frost at Midnight Coleridge manages to mingle the fragility of a child's innocence by relating his own urban childhood. No exultation of nature in here.
In his evocative Nightingale he reassesses the division between his own mind and the beauty of the natural world, without intention to become changed by it. He is only a humble spectator who marvels at what he sees:

And hark! the Nightingale begins its song,
'Most musical, most melancholy' bird!
In Nature there is nothing melancholy.

Finally, Coleridge often privileges weird tales and bizarre imagery over the commonplace, rustic simplicities Wordsworth stands up for; the The rime of the ancient Mariner with spectrum sailing a cursed ship towards the South Pole, would have been out of place in a Wordsworth's poem.
Strangely, Moby Dick and ghostly Poe came to my mind with this poem.
If Wordsworth represents the central pillar of early Romanticism, Coleridge is nevertheless an important structural support. His emphasis on the imagination, its independence from the outside world and its creation of fantastic pictures exerted a profound influence on later writers such as Shelley or Byron.
Colerigde's often exposed feelings of alienation and numbness helped to define more sharply the Romantics'idealized contrast between the emptiness of the city and the joys of nature.

But what really made the difference for me is that the source of Coleridge's poems seems to be emotion recollected in emotion, whereas in Wordsworth it was emotion recollected in consciousness. Coleridge maintains not only an emotional intensity but also a predominant intellectual presence, applying constant philosophical pressure to his ideas, his figure closer to a thinker of poetry than a poet; probably an idealist, brilliant yet tragically unable to attain his own ideals.

I can easily believe, that there are more invisible than visible Beings in the universe. But who shall describe for us their families? and their ranks and relationships and distinguishing features and functions? What they do? where they live? The human mind has always circled around a knowledge of these things, never attaining it. I do not doubt, however, that it is sometimes beneficial to contemplate, in thought, as in a Picture, the image of a greater and better world; lest the intellect, habituated to the trivia of daily life, may contract itself too much, and wholly sink into trifles. But at the same time we must be vigilant for truth, and maintain proportion, that we may distinguish certain from uncertain, day from night.

Some might say I’m portraying the “Romantic genius stereotype” in Coleridge but allow me the pleasure of exultation in such a thrilling discovery.

[Seán Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

The GOAT. Great edition, lovely succinct introduction with well thought out and unique versions of Coleridge’s finest verses.

[Ambrose Miles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did Coleridge write any shorter poems? The short poems in this volumn are two to three pages long. Where I am fond of Kubla Khan and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (illustrated), I get lost after four or more pages of poetry. I forget what the poem is about as my mind wanders away to listen to coyotes or owls singing in the woods, or closer to home, listening to Fats Waller or Bill Evans tickle the ivory's on CD. 31/2 stars.
Nice painting on the cover of this book, by the way.

[Talbot Hook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an odd selection of poems, but I can understand Fenton's logic in choosing these pieces. They give a glimpse into the fragmented, dissonant, oftentimes contradictory moods and concepts Coleridge had about his own work. We get multiple versions of both Kubla Khan and the Dejection piece, which are interesting in different lights (and Kubla Khan is almost a spell in its trance-like quality), and a bunch of napkin-fragments of verse right off the bat. Happily, we can judge this book quite objectively, as Fenton gives his purpose on the first page of the introduction, where he states his goal: to get us to like Coleridge. Not necessarily his poems, but the man himself, through his poems. This can be a difficult-to-grasp aim, but to lead us there, Fenton presents us with the aforementioned doubtful fragments, dream-writings, and imperfections; he wants to give us a view of the poet himself, as one whose lack of self-assurance, (potential) inability to finish/polish works, and peculiar brand of reputation-management all combine to create a very likeably-imperfect man. Given the aims of the selector, I'd say this book is a rousing success (but, then again, I already liked Coleridge, so perhaps I am unable to be trusted . . .).

[Mad Medico · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not being overly familiar with Romantic poetry, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect here; I like the style overall, each poem feels like stepping into a frozen, realised world. My preference is definitely for the narrative and ‘supernatural’ poems which I think best play to Coleridge’s wrought, emotional style (and the sometimes archaic phrasing and grammar). I found the other, more traditionally Romantic poems difficult to follow and ultimately unmoving - too much melodrama at times, especially in ‘A Letter’ and ‘Dejection’. The introduction was unsatisfying, being short and touching on biographical details of individual poems that I feel added little of value; I would have preferred more analysis and a placing of the works in the context of the period. Likewise, the ‘fragments’ were an unnecessary addition in my view.

Favourite poems: ‘Kubla Khan’ (fantastic atmosphere, glittering and mysterious); ‘Christabel’ (early vampire lore & gothic milieu, reminded me of Carmilla); ‘The Ancyent Marinere’ (read like a fable with bizarre elements and strong structure).

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

He was so gloomy! So depressed.

Interesting selection. 'A Letter To' and 'Dejection' back to back give you the impression that you know Coleridge's favourite images very well.

I don't connect to his shorter things, but man what trips 'Christabel' and 'The Ancyent Marinere' are! I wish he had written more this sort of short-metre-gothic-fantasy stuff, it really does everything.

[Theodora B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5/5. It’s a good collection, but I agree (with the other reviews) that given that this book is anyway a selection of its poems, there was no necessity to include both versions of Kubla Khan. While I might see the reason why James Fenton did that, I believe that someone who first reads Coleridge will not seek to meticulously decipher his depths.

[Erica Basnicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Pains of Sleep deserves 5 stars as a work in its own right, but the collection as a whole is just a tiny bit lacking - in length and in context.

[Jack Heller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this only for the poetry, though I may someday return to the volume to read Coleridge's prose. I enjoyed the poems I revisited, but also the many that I have read for the first time.

[David Levell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of this slim volume consists of the wondrous works upon which Coleridge's poetic immortality rests - Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Kublai Khan, Frost at Midnight, Dejection: an Ode, Christabel, Pains of Sleep and a few others.

However, James Fenton also emphasises a 'behind the scenes' look at Coleridge's creative process, lending a fresh angle to his selection. The opening fragments are examples of the inspired jottings that writers often derive ideas from, or end up using in later compositions. Admittedly they're non-essential, like a famous band's outtakes, and they fill space perhaps better used for actual poems; still I'm glad to have them here. They feel like an overture, STC gathering his thoughts for the show about to open.

Two versions of Kublai Khan follow. The second is what we usually see; the first is a rarely published manuscript draft. The latter is obviously less polished but it's fascinating to see exactly what Coleridge did polish.

Dejection: An Ode is preceded by the much longer A Letter To - , from which it arose. Even more self-revelatory and emotionally charged than Dejection, A Letter is suffused with poetic and raw personal insight.

Finally, Rime of the Ancient Mariner is represented by the lesser-seen 1798 original (Rime of the Ancyent Marinere), which differs from the better known revision in minor ways. Either way, it's one of English literature's best poetic narratives, full of mysticism, music, and mystery.

(Note: A typo lurks in Ancyent Marinere Part VI, 3rd stanza - 'grir' isn't an obscure archaism; read 'grim'!)

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best I can say of Coleridge is that I’ve read him now. Kubla Khan and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner are famous as far as poems are famous, and although they don’t do anything for me, I only know that now. This kind of narrative poetry always puzzles me, because I don’t understand why you wouldn’t just write a novel. You’d have so much more scope for the plot and characterization they desperately need, and no need to be so hemmed in by the form.

These Faber editions are very pretty, but this collection was assembled by someone who thought the reader was coming to it knowing loads about Coleridge and with a desire for minute esoterica. He also thought what the beginner poetry reader really needed was two versions of Kubla Khan to compare its evolution over time. Protip, that is not what we need. A taster volume needs to showcase the best and most readable stuff, not waste space putting the same poem in twice. If he was hoping to foster greater affection for Coleridge by so doing, he rankly failed in my case.

“It ceased; yet still the sails made on
A pleasant noise till noon,
A noise like of a hidden brook
In the leafy month of June,
That to the sleeping woods all night
Singeth a quiet tune.”

This (from the Ancient Mariner) is the only part I highlighted as liking, yet even that is drenched in Romantic treacle.

[Grady Ormsby · Rating 1 out of 5]

Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Poems Selected by James Fenton is a volume from the series of books from Faber and Faber featuring poems of notable poets selected by contemporary poets. Coleridge was at the heart of the Romantic Movement in England. He was a rigorous wordsmith who reworked his poems to exacting standards. Many have credited him with the idea of conversation poetry in which the poet address someone close to him and uses common, everyday language to express profound poetic images and ideas. The bulk of the book is The Ancyent Marinere. I found the book to be a slow slog. Though viewed as an early Modernist, Coleridge adheres to a classic style that is stiff and overly restricted by the rules. The patterns, the tempos and the allusions are simply too weighty for my taste.

[Cooper Renner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The three *greats* are here: Kubla Khan (in 2 versions), Christabel and Ancyent Marinere (the first version). Also the near-great Pains of Sleep; and the famous but less impressive Dejection An Ode (2 versions), This Lime Tree Bower, and Frost at Midnight. Along with The Mad Monk (interesting but dispensable) and a series of drafts or fragments (Coleridge at work, as it were). This is pretty much all you need of Coleridge's poetry, and it still knocks the socks off most every other poet.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never much for poetry during school but this book was on table at job placement centre for free so I took it. Two of the poems inspired two of my favourite rock songs. 1: Kubla Khan - inspiration for Xanadu by Rush and 2: Rime of the Ancient Mariner - inspiration for song of the same name by Iron Maiden.

[Noecito Castillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've only read The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and though the theme wasn't very appealing, the form is certainly beautiful. I enjoyed it quite much.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kubla Khan, Nightingale, Love....what's not to love!