The Life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge

* A major account of the life and work of Samuel Taylor Coleridge* Author an authority on Anglo--German cultural connections in the 19th century -- so this book is particularly strong and very accessible too on the German philosophical and literary background. . Rosemary Ashton’s acclaimed biography presents Samuel Taylor Coleridge – poet, critic, thinker, plagiarist, cultural omnivore, enchanting companion, feckless husband, fabled conversationalist, guilt-ridden opium addict – in all his complexity. Ashton shows how Coleridge’s writings in verse and prose are especially directly expressive of his opinions and emotions and traces his development through friendship and marriage. An authority on nineteenth-century Anglo-German cultural relations, she maps and measures the profound influence of German philosophy upon Coleridge’s thinking and theorizing in illuminating detail, thus placing Coleridge’s reputation within the context of both British and German Romanticism. Rosemary Ashton explores the many facets of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's complex personality, by turns poet, critic, thinker, enchanting companion, feckless husband, fabled conversationalist and guilt-ridden opium addict.