Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born in the English town of Ottery St Mary, where his father was a vicar, in 1772. The youngest of ten children, he attended school with Charles Lamb and spent two years at Jesus College, Cambridge, where he was introduced to radical politics and theology by the poet Robert Southey. He first met William Wordsworth in 1795 and they published a joint poetry collection, Lyrical Ballads, in 1798; this highly praised volume, which started the English Romantic Movement, contained the first version of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Alongside finding success with his poetry, Coleridge’s critical work, especially on Shakespeare, was highly influential. However much of his life was blighted by illness, opium addiction, financial problems and depression. He died of heart failure in London in 1834.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), English lyrical poet, critic, and philosopher, whose Lyrical Ballads (1798), written with William Wordsworth, started the English Romantic movement. He was born in Ottery St Mary where his father was the vicar, and he was at school with Charles Lamb and Leigh Hunt, and spent two years at Jesus College, Cambridge. He is best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan, but his critical work, especially on Shakespeare was highly influential, and he helped introduce German idealist philosophy to English-speaking culture. He also suffered from poor physical health that may have stemmed from a bout of rheumatic fever and other childhood illnesses. He was treated for these concerns with laudanum, which fostered a lifelong opium addiction.
