III Samuel Taylor Coleridge

　　1.一般識記 His Life & Literary Career

　　Samuel Taylor Coleridge （1772-1834）, poet & critic, was born in Ottery St. Mary, Devonshire, the son of a clergy man. He received education at Cambridge but left without a degree. Inspired by the radical thinkers with their idealism, Coleridge joined Robert Southey in a utopian plan of establishing an ideal democratic community in America, named "Pantisocracy." In the spring of 1797, Coleridge met & began his long friendship with William Wordsworth. The following year, they published a joint volume of poetry, Lyrical Ballads, which become a landmark in English poetry. Coleridge's poem, " The Rime of the Ancient Mariner，" was included in the volume. The years 1797 &1798 were among the most fruitful of Coleridge's life. In addition to " The Ancient Mariner，" he wrote " Kubla Khan，" began writing " Christabel，" & composed "This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison，" "Frost at Midnight，" & " The Nightingale", which are considered to be his best "conversational" poems.

　　In 1798, he traveled with the Wordsworths to Germany. In 1810, Coleridge quarreled seriously with Wordsworth. Although they reconciled with each other later on, their friendship had never reached its former intimacy. In 1813, his tragic drama Remorse received popular welcome. In 1816, he wrote his major prose work, Biographia Literaria （1817）, a series of autobiographical notes & dissertations on many subjects, including some brilliantly perceptive literary criticism.

　　2.識記 His Literary Outlook & Philosophy

　　Philosophically & critically, Coleridge opposed the limitedly rationalistic trends of the 18th-century thought. He courageously stemmed the tide of the prevailing doctrines derived from Hume & Hartley, advocating a more spiritual & religious interpretation of life, based on what he had