Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth are credited with starting the Romanticism movement in England. The two companions defied the conventions of neoclassical poems in 1797 with audacious creative literary works that placed a strong emphasis on emotion and exalted nature. Their poetry anthology Lyrical Ballads was published the year after.

Although Lyrical Ballads received a muted initial response, it is today regarded as a seminal work that revolutionized the direction of English literature and poetry by sparking the significant Romantic movement.

One of the most significant characters in English poetry, Coleridge had a significant impact on Wordsworth and other prominent poets of his time. He is praised for, among other things, using common language to convey complex poetry pictures and concepts.

A drug-induced dream Coleridge had in 1797 that fired up his imagination served as the basis for his poem Kubla Kahn. Unfortunately, Coleridge's obsession with opium for a while nearly cost him his marriage, his health, and his friendship with Wordsworth.

Famous Poems:

• Kubla Khan (1816)
• Christabel (1816)
• The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798)

Lifespan: October 21, 1772 – July 25, 1834
Nationality: English