Samuel Taylor Coleridge

English lyrical poet, critic, and philosopher, whose LYRICAL BALLADS, written with William Wordsworth, started the English Romantic movement. Although Coleridge's poetic achievement was small in quantity, his metaphysical anxiety, anticipating modern existentialism, has gained him reputation as an authentic visionary. Shelley called him "hooded eagle among blinking owls." "The influence of Coleridge, like that of Bentham, extends far beyond those who share in the peculiarities of his religious or philosophical creed. He has been the …

…ighgate, near Londonon July 25, 1834. 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. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round: And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; And here were forests ancient as the hills Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. (from Kubla Khan, 1798)