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S. T. Colleridge Poems (Everyman's Library Classics & Contemporary Classics
Coleridge is the most complex and brilliant, yet the most elusive and intense of the great Romantic writers. This selection of verse and prose displays the extraordinary scope of his mind, the power of his imagination and the virtuosity of his literary gifts. It also reveals that behind the glittering surface of familiar masterpieces – The Ancient Mariner, Kubla Khan, Christabel, the Biographia – there is a great but unknown poet still waiting to be discovered.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1895
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About the author
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
2,187 books876 followersSamuel 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.
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August 19, 2025I don't need to emphasize Samuel Taylor Coleridge's historical importance; he remains an epigone of British Romanticism. Personally, I was particularly struck by the poem "Fears of Solitude" (the title alone), in which he seems to rail against the policies of the British government (at the time very belligerent), and in one paragraph also denounces English colonialism. Coleridge was clearly aware of the controversial nature of his words, because at the same time he delivers a distinctly patriotic eulogy for the British Isles, concluding with a recommendation for a life in harmony with nature. Typical Romantic stuff, shall we say?
February 15, 2019
Review title: Coleridge through a keyhole
I had any prose by Coleridge on my Christmas wish list so my daughter the English PhD gave me this 775 page selection from his poetry and prose, and lest you think this is anything close to complete you don't know Coleridge. Here is one quick data point to give you an idea how much this guy published: this collection includes 18 of his letters--his complete published letters total 1,800 in a six volume set. And apparently, from the editors notes and selection of contemporary commentary on Coleridge he was even more voluminous and as tortuous to understand as a talker; just give him a topic, said some of his best friends and he will talk for hours around the point--good luck getting a word in edgewise.
Coleridge was unapologetic about his turgid writing (and speaking) style:
So, I spent the last two weeks reading this keyhole sized collection of Coleridge. I read front to back as I always do even when reading a collection like this. It's my organized nature. And the editors made a point of putting the collection in order of publication because
1. They wanted readers to see his maturation and
2. He edited many of his poems, some multiple times for various publications throughout his lifetime.
Coleridge himself, after most of his life favoring topical organization of his published volumes of poetry, finally in 1834 in his last year of life said "All your divisions are in particular instances inadequate, and they destroy the interest which arises from watching the progress, maturity, and even the decay of genius." (P. 204)
For example, addiction to opium, used as a painkiller when the addictive powers of the drug were not yet recognized, seemed to me to diminish the quality of Coleridge's poetry well before the end of his life, and in fact he appears to have mostly abandoned the poetic form for prose, although he continually made changes to his previous output all through his life.
So his best poetry was written early on. I wonder if Coleridge influenced Tolkien? "Ode on the departing year" reads middle earthy. "Fears in Solitude" is a great poem that should be required reading for Donald Trump and anyone who wants to be President.
But his best poem is the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" written early on, of course, then later revised with added margin notes to explain what some contemporary readers thought was inexplicable in the original. The editors print both the original version and the final revision with marginal notes in parallel columns and both are readable and interesting to compare. This was my first time reading "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", a phantasmagorical tale told by the old sailor who had witnessed bizarre events (a friendly albatross, a becalmed ship, an undead crew, ghostly voices) and, now condemned to wander alone, feels compelled to tell his tale to those he knows need to hear it because the hearer will be "A sadder and a wiser man/He rose the morrow morn." (p. 98, 99) The tale is compelling, horrific (Steven King has written no images more powerful than this), spiritual, comic, and sad. As I read it alone in my hotel room thousands of miles from home for work, not unlike the ancient mariner, just a few short weeks after my father died and my wife had major surgery, it was both deeply moving and strangely comforting, as the sailor tells his listener, a young guest at a wedding:
His early prose was powerful and direct on topics such as the French Revolution, the slave trade (he was an outspoken and strongly worded abolitionist), and British politics. From "A Moral and Political Lecture", written in criticism of the British government in response to the French Revolution but which could as easily and simply apply to today's American political climate by simple search and replace:
Writing about Hamlet, Coleridge says "he is a man living in meditation, called upon to act by every motive human & divine but the great purpose of life defeated by continually resolving to do, yet doing nothing but resolve." (P. 336) He may have been describing my attitude toward voting in recent US elections as I have been sorely disappointed in the caliber of the candidates of both parties and resolved that for things to improve we must reinstate voting qualifications, not for race, property, or gender, but wisdom. Coleridge has something to say about that as well--in addition to his poetry he wrote on politics, religion, philosophy, and literary criticism--and he gets right to the flaw in my idea: "Superior wisdom, with superior virtue, would indeed confer a right of superior power, but who is to decide on the possession? Not the person himself, who makes the claim: and if the people, then the right is given, and not inherent. Votes, therefore, cannot be weighed in this way, and they must not be weighed in any other way, and nothing remains possible, but that they must be numbered. (p. 303)
In a later sometimes inspired and ofttimes complex (contemporary critics said obtuse) mashup of religion and politics known as "The Statesman's Manual", Coleridge discusses in greater depth the Bible as the source of political wisdom, which he defines, roughly speaking and as near as I can determine, as the intersection of reason and imagination. So regardless of the impracticability of my politics, and the uneven quality of Coleridge's body of work (you could blame the opium), this omnibus collection is peppered with classic material like this. But for most of his last 20 years his writing delved into German philosophies of literary criticism and his writing (for example most of the 120 pages devoted to the Biographia Literaria in this collection) is as obtuse as his contemporary critics claimed.
The editors provide introductions to each piece of writing to provide background and context and extensive footnotes to explain now-obscure references in Coleridge's writings. Be warned however: the footnote font is tiny, perhaps readable for the university student readers who are this edition's target audience, but too small for my older and tireder eyes. They include a selection of criticism of Coleridge from the 19th and 20th centuries, and a biographical register and glossary, each of which could have had more entries and more details.
I wanted to give this collection a 5 star classic rating after reading the Ancient Mariner. I'm not a poetry person but that is truly classic literature in any form or genre. But the more I read the more Coleridge talked me out of it. In the end this is worth any reader's time, but don't sweat the stuff you don't get. Savor the highlights through the keyhole.
I had any prose by Coleridge on my Christmas wish list so my daughter the English PhD gave me this 775 page selection from his poetry and prose, and lest you think this is anything close to complete you don't know Coleridge. Here is one quick data point to give you an idea how much this guy published: this collection includes 18 of his letters--his complete published letters total 1,800 in a six volume set. And apparently, from the editors notes and selection of contemporary commentary on Coleridge he was even more voluminous and as tortuous to understand as a talker; just give him a topic, said some of his best friends and he will talk for hours around the point--good luck getting a word in edgewise.
Coleridge was unapologetic about his turgid writing (and speaking) style:
If any man expect from my poems the same easiness of style which he admires in a drinking song, for him I have not written. Intelligibilia, non intellectual adfero [I bring things to be understood, not things that are understood]. (p. 47)
So, I spent the last two weeks reading this keyhole sized collection of Coleridge. I read front to back as I always do even when reading a collection like this. It's my organized nature. And the editors made a point of putting the collection in order of publication because
1. They wanted readers to see his maturation and
2. He edited many of his poems, some multiple times for various publications throughout his lifetime.
Coleridge himself, after most of his life favoring topical organization of his published volumes of poetry, finally in 1834 in his last year of life said "All your divisions are in particular instances inadequate, and they destroy the interest which arises from watching the progress, maturity, and even the decay of genius." (P. 204)
For example, addiction to opium, used as a painkiller when the addictive powers of the drug were not yet recognized, seemed to me to diminish the quality of Coleridge's poetry well before the end of his life, and in fact he appears to have mostly abandoned the poetic form for prose, although he continually made changes to his previous output all through his life.
So his best poetry was written early on. I wonder if Coleridge influenced Tolkien? "Ode on the departing year" reads middle earthy. "Fears in Solitude" is a great poem that should be required reading for Donald Trump and anyone who wants to be President.
But his best poem is the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" written early on, of course, then later revised with added margin notes to explain what some contemporary readers thought was inexplicable in the original. The editors print both the original version and the final revision with marginal notes in parallel columns and both are readable and interesting to compare. This was my first time reading "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", a phantasmagorical tale told by the old sailor who had witnessed bizarre events (a friendly albatross, a becalmed ship, an undead crew, ghostly voices) and, now condemned to wander alone, feels compelled to tell his tale to those he knows need to hear it because the hearer will be "A sadder and a wiser man/He rose the morrow morn." (p. 98, 99) The tale is compelling, horrific (Steven King has written no images more powerful than this), spiritual, comic, and sad. As I read it alone in my hotel room thousands of miles from home for work, not unlike the ancient mariner, just a few short weeks after my father died and my wife had major surgery, it was both deeply moving and strangely comforting, as the sailor tells his listener, a young guest at a wedding:
O Wedding-Guest! this soul hath been
Alone on a wide wide sea:
So lonely 'twas, that God himself
Scarce seemed there to be.
O sweeter than the marriage feast,
' Tis sweeter far to me,
To walk together to the kirk
With a goodly company!--
To walk together to the kirk,
And all together pray,
While each to his great Father bends,
Old men, and babes, and loving friends,
And youths and maidens gay!
(p. 98, 99)
His early prose was powerful and direct on topics such as the French Revolution, the slave trade (he was an outspoken and strongly worded abolitionist), and British politics. From "A Moral and Political Lecture", written in criticism of the British government in response to the French Revolution but which could as easily and simply apply to today's American political climate by simple search and replace:
When the Wind is fair and the Planks of the vessel sound, we may safely trust every thing to the management of professional Mariners ; but in a Tempest and on board a crazy Bark, all must contribute their Quota of Exertion. The Stripling is not exempted from it by his Youth, nor the Passenger by his Inexperience. Even so in the prefent agitations of the public mind, every one ought to consider his intellectual faculties as in a state of immediate requisition. All may benefit Society in some degree. The exigences of the Times do not permit us to stay for the matures years, lest the opportunity be lost, while we are waiting for an increase of power.
Writing about Hamlet, Coleridge says "he is a man living in meditation, called upon to act by every motive human & divine but the great purpose of life defeated by continually resolving to do, yet doing nothing but resolve." (P. 336) He may have been describing my attitude toward voting in recent US elections as I have been sorely disappointed in the caliber of the candidates of both parties and resolved that for things to improve we must reinstate voting qualifications, not for race, property, or gender, but wisdom. Coleridge has something to say about that as well--in addition to his poetry he wrote on politics, religion, philosophy, and literary criticism--and he gets right to the flaw in my idea: "Superior wisdom, with superior virtue, would indeed confer a right of superior power, but who is to decide on the possession? Not the person himself, who makes the claim: and if the people, then the right is given, and not inherent. Votes, therefore, cannot be weighed in this way, and they must not be weighed in any other way, and nothing remains possible, but that they must be numbered. (p. 303)
In a later sometimes inspired and ofttimes complex (contemporary critics said obtuse) mashup of religion and politics known as "The Statesman's Manual", Coleridge discusses in greater depth the Bible as the source of political wisdom, which he defines, roughly speaking and as near as I can determine, as the intersection of reason and imagination. So regardless of the impracticability of my politics, and the uneven quality of Coleridge's body of work (you could blame the opium), this omnibus collection is peppered with classic material like this. But for most of his last 20 years his writing delved into German philosophies of literary criticism and his writing (for example most of the 120 pages devoted to the Biographia Literaria in this collection) is as obtuse as his contemporary critics claimed.
The editors provide introductions to each piece of writing to provide background and context and extensive footnotes to explain now-obscure references in Coleridge's writings. Be warned however: the footnote font is tiny, perhaps readable for the university student readers who are this edition's target audience, but too small for my older and tireder eyes. They include a selection of criticism of Coleridge from the 19th and 20th centuries, and a biographical register and glossary, each of which could have had more entries and more details.
I wanted to give this collection a 5 star classic rating after reading the Ancient Mariner. I'm not a poetry person but that is truly classic literature in any form or genre. But the more I read the more Coleridge talked me out of it. In the end this is worth any reader's time, but don't sweat the stuff you don't get. Savor the highlights through the keyhole.
May 30, 2019
3.5/5
I'm not the best judge of poetry, so I'm a bit at a loss rating this but I will say that 1) it's very obvious he improved, even to me, 2) The Ancient Mariner is one of Coleridge's best known works for a reason, and 3) I am so happy to know that story about him dropping out of Cambridge and enrolling in the army under a false name. Made my day when I read it in the introduction to his early works.
I'm not the best judge of poetry, so I'm a bit at a loss rating this but I will say that 1) it's very obvious he improved, even to me, 2) The Ancient Mariner is one of Coleridge's best known works for a reason, and 3) I am so happy to know that story about him dropping out of Cambridge and enrolling in the army under a false name. Made my day when I read it in the introduction to his early works.
February 20, 2014
"Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink"
Or how about
"The willing suspension of disbelief"
Recognize those iconic phrases? Coleridge at his finest. I LOVED reading the Rime of the Ancient Mariner again. So much better now that I'm an adult.
Or how about
"The willing suspension of disbelief"
Recognize those iconic phrases? Coleridge at his finest. I LOVED reading the Rime of the Ancient Mariner again. So much better now that I'm an adult.
April 16, 2025
Coleridge, while not my favorite poet, I found to be an enjoyable read.
For those interested, and may want to look into this edition, while presented here as containing only 256 pages, is a gross inaccuracy. This particular edition is the complete works of S. T. Coleridge (spelled with one 'l', not two) of which the correct page count is 589 pages. This includes an index of titles and first lines, a section on Coleridge and his critics, and an appendix concerning the 1789 and 1817 versions of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The erroneous number of 256 appears to be taken from the Everyman's Pocket Poets Edition entitled Coleridge, of which I have as well.
For those interested, and may want to look into this edition, while presented here as containing only 256 pages, is a gross inaccuracy. This particular edition is the complete works of S. T. Coleridge (spelled with one 'l', not two) of which the correct page count is 589 pages. This includes an index of titles and first lines, a section on Coleridge and his critics, and an appendix concerning the 1789 and 1817 versions of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The erroneous number of 256 appears to be taken from the Everyman's Pocket Poets Edition entitled Coleridge, of which I have as well.
January 11, 2025
I guess I’ll keep this review simple. Coleridge was criticized for a “turgid” style back in the day. And I basically agree. His writing is unnecessarily dense, not the style I want in a romantic poet. He’s not particularly clever either. I can understand and interpret most of his poems, but I usually come away thinking “he could’ve expressed that better.” Kinda underwhelming. Keats was more of a romantic pop singer. 9/10 poems are too ornate and sentimental, but 1/10 are lovely. I’ll try Wordsworth at some point. So far I’m not impressed by this era. Romanticism clearly needed to be updated.
February 21, 2022
I had to fight off the sleep.
June 4, 2025
An amazing poet for Kubla Khan and The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, these poems were highlights amongst a collection from the whole of Coleridge’s fascinating life
July 5, 2007
Not a fan of Coleridge
October 17, 2014
I don't know how to judge poetry. Was it well written? Definitely. Was it entertaining? Most of the time. Did I leave it thinking "Wow, I am so glad I read that?" Nope.
March 29, 2024
Some of these poems are like a diamond in the rough
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews