Samuel Taylor Coleridge is one of the most influential, as well as one of the most enigmatic, of all Romantic figures. The possessor of a precocious talent, he dazzled contemporaries with his poetry, journalism, philosophy and oratory without ever quite living up to his early promise, or overcoming problems of dependence and drug addiction. The Cambridge Companion to Coleridge does full justice to the many facets of Coleridge's life and work. Specially commissioned essays focus on his major poems, including The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Christabel, his notebooks, and his major work of non-fiction the Biographia Literaria. Attention is given to his role as talker, journalist, critic, and philosopher, his politics, his religion, and his reputation in his own times and afterwards. A chronology and guides to further reading complete the volume, making this an indispensable guide to Coleridge and his work.
Introduction; Chronology; Part I. Texts and Contexts: 1. The life Kelvin Everest; 2. The 'Conversation' poems Paul Magnuson; 3. Superstition and the supernatural in the poems Tim Fulford; 4. Biographia Literaria James Engell; 5. The Notebooks Josie Dixon; 6. The later poetry Jim Mays; Part II. Two Discursive Modes: 7. The talker Seamus Perry; 8. The journalist Deirdre Coleman; 9. The critic Angela Esterhammer; 10. The political thinker Peter Kitson; 11. The philosopher Paul Hamilton; 12. The religious thinker Mary Anne Perkins; Part III. Themes and Topics: 13. Gender Julie Carlson; 14. Symbol James McKusick; 15. The afterlife John Beer; Guide to further reading.
