Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Poems

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet and one of the most influential writers of the Romanticism movement. Along with William Wordsworth, he began the movement with the publication of the collection Lyrical Ballads in 1798. He is known best for his poem ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.’ 

Part I: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner By S.T. Coleridge

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a lyrical ballad about a mysterious sea-faring wedding guest who tells a long story of a dangerous journey.

'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' is usually credited as Coleridge's best poem. While the long narrative is exceedingly complex, its universal themes and focus on man vs. nature have made it a classic verse often taught in schools.

He holds him with his glittering eye—

The Wedding-Guest stood still,

And listens like a three years' child:

The Mariner hath his will.

Kubla Khan (Xanadu)

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

‘Kubla Khan’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a poem that describes the poet’s dream of visiting the palace of Kubla Khan, a Mongol emperor who ruled over the ancient Chinese Yuan Dynasty.

Coleridge's poetry is known for its vivid imagery and use of the supernatural, which are both prominent in 'Kubla Khan.' He was also known for his experimentation with form and language, as seen in the complex structure of this poem.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

Explore more poems from Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Fears in Solitude

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

‘Fears in Solitude’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a historically significant poem in which the speaker discusses the threats his country is facing. He has no desire to be the enemy of his country, but he does need to stand up for what he believes in.

Frost at Midnight

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The poem, ‘Frost At Midnight,’ belongs to Coleridge’s short celebrated verses called Conversational Poems. It was composed by the poet

The Frost performs its secret ministry,

Unhelped by any wind. The owlet's cry

Came loud—and hark, again! loud as before.

Human Life

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

‘Human Life’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge describes a speaker’s frustration with the concept that there is no purpose to life or existence after death. 

Love

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

‘Love’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge details the emotional and physical relationship between a speaker and the woman he woos through storytelling.

Metrical Feet

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

‘Metrical Feet’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge talks about different metrical feet and provides a basic description of those feet. The poet wrote this poem for instructing his son, Derwent Coleridge.

The Eolian Harp

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

‘The Eolian Harp’ by S.T. Coleridge, has been entitled after the ‘Aeolian harp’, which creates melodious music while the wind blows across its strings. It is one of Coleridge’s early conversation poems.

This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Divided into three verse paragraphs, the poem This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison by S.T. Coleridge is a seventy-six lines poem,

Well, they are gone, and here must I remain,

This lime-tree bower my prison! I have lost

Beauties and feelings, such as would have been

Most sweet to my remembrance even when age

To William Wordsworth

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

‘To William Wordsworth’ is Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s response to William Wordsworth’s autobiographical poem. Coleridge first encountered Wordsworth’s autobiographical poem, The

Work without Hope

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

‘Work without Hope’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge describes the ways in which Nature works and the importance of having goals, or hopes, to strive towards.

All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair—

The bees are stirring—birds are on the wing—

And Winter slumbering in the open air,

Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!

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