Coleridge: Poems: Introduction by John Beer

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Beer (Introduction)

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) was the master impresario of English Romanticism -- an enormously erudite and tireless critic, lecturer, and polemicist who almost single-handedly created the intellectual climate in which the Romantic movement was received and understood. He was also, in poems such as 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,' 'Christabel,' and 'Kubla Khan.' the most uncanny, surreal, and startling of the great English poets.

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

256 pages, Hardcover

Published November 11, 1997

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

[Marc Lamot]

I experience it time and again: it remains difficult to grasp the spirit of poetic work from several centuries ago (let alone from much further in time). And in this case, there are certainly some affinities. Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), along with his friend Wordsworth, was the epigone of early British Romanticism. And you can definitely see that in numerous poems included in this selection: the emphasis on the spiritual nature of the natural world, Gothic elements, ruins, plenty of moonlight, a certain pathos, and occasionally even mysticism. In our current culture, we still have some sense of that (however…), but it is becoming more difficult, I notice myself as well.

Coleridge doesn't always make it easy for the reader. His well-known longer poems, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and "Christabel," for example, early works, both begin plot-wise in a very appealing way, but then branch out into sometimes very strange narrative elements that are not always easy to place. What also doesn't help is the very short lines Coleridge apparently used in the beginning, which overemphasize the rhyme, and for me, this is detrimental to the poetic effect. Later in his career, he used the longer hexameter more frequently, but his poems also became more pessimistic and even grim.

Personally, I think Coleridge is primarily interesting in the 21st century because of his documentary value, and that his companion Wordsworth is more appealing, and has more to tell us.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking up Coleridge, I needn't recite The Rime of the Ancient Mariner for you. Instead I'll tell you what a nice little edition this is. Smallish, attractive, good paper, looks pretty lying on your nightstand. It fits perfectly in your purse too. Handy when you're stuck in traffic and need a poetry fix.

[Jeremy Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy these cloth-bound Everyman Library Pocket Poets editions. I have read several collections of poems in this series. The design and layout is generous with thick, off-white pages, a ribbon bookmark, ample margin space, and readable font size. There are no annotations, however, which makes closer study of the poems challenging. Nevertheless, there is editorial curation in terms of selection and arrangement of poems, and I have enjoyed reading Coleridge's poems for pleasure.

[Zachary Mays · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great little collection of essential Coleridge poems. I enjoyed rereading Mariner, Christabel, Kubla Khan, The Eolian Harp, This Lime Tree Bower My Prison, and more. The selections from Biographia Literaria, and from his letters were enlightening.

[Josue Klasinski]

Fantastic poet, worthwhile revisiting for sure.

This volume contains many of his most known and cherished writing.

[Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

…..Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.

“Kubla Khan,” “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” “Christabel”…. He might be surprised to know it, but Coleridge was the original mad Romantic, drug-taking rock star. His influence is everywhere. Required reading!

[Elisabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really get much out of this. There were two poems I really liked ('The Nightingale' and 'The Pains of Sleep') but the rest mostly wasn't for me. [Plus, I just don't really are about the letters at the end - why include those in this collection?]

[Kris Lundgaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Frost at Midnight"

[mwr · Rating 3 out of 5]

When he's good he's good. But, when he's not (most of the time) he's not.