Somehow Holmes produces scholarly biographies that make compulsive reading. He never fictionalizes or puts thoughts in his subjects' heads that he has no authority for - and yet he keeps us turning those pages. Is it the subjects he choses? Shelley and Coleridge both had strongly "plotted" lives. Coleridge married the sister of Southey's wife and fell in love with the sister of Wordsworth's wife. I liked his comment on Coleridge's father's predecessor in the the benefice of St Mary's Ottery.

The general reader and the scholar should enjoy this book. Holmes does set Coleridge talking.

Don't miss Owen Barfield's WHAT COLERIDGE THOUGHT if you want to explore the matephysician.

If you think Coleridge was finished by 1804, think again. True, all his great poems had been written but an astonishing life of triumph and tragi-comedy lay ahead. "Coleridge, Darker Reflections" is the long-awaited second half of this award-winning biography of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It covers the period 1804-1834 - a time when, according to popular belief, Coleridge's fertile imagination had dried up and he faced a slippery slide to an opium-induced decline. But not according to the author Richard Holmes, described as "Our best post-war biographer". He is a superb story teller and unlike so many biographers before him, deeply in touch with his subject. His first volume, "Coleridge Early Visions" introduced the poet to a new generation of admirers (including myself who was fired into writing a play for children about the poet's early magical years). This wonderful book will surely establish STC as a troubled but gigantic genius of the 19th century. Holme's own genius is to show us Coleridge the man. "Always on the knife edge between tragedy and comedy" said Holmes at the London book launch this week (21st October 1998) Holmes has worked assiduously through STC's vast notebooks. Like his namesake, Sherlock, the author clearly enjoys the detection element of biography. His is a personal search for the man, his millieu and his place. Holmes retraces STC's footsteps around England - echoing the desperate perambulations of the wandering poet. Holmes tells this astonishing story at a cracking pace - he has the thriller-writer's gift for making you turn the page. We follow STC through his Malta years - a wonderful evocation of Coleridge's chaotic life. The years of tragic opium decline in London are brought to life (I challenge you not to cry) - and yet there are so many triumphs - the marvellous late poems that Holmes has championed in an earlier collection, the seminal lectures on Shakespeare, Coleridge the thinker and radical, Coleridge the father (not a very good one), the years of relative happiness in Highgate where we find Coleridge the guru. Above all is Coleridge the man. Holmes as only the greatest biographers can, brings his subject completely to life and shows us why Coleridge was such a tour de force in the Romantic movement and why Byron called Wordsworth "a fixed star" but Coleridge "a meteor". There is so much to love in this book - it is hard to know what to recommend. If you have never read a biography before, make this your first. If you think you are familiar with the life of STC, this book, so full of new discoveries and insights, will make you reassess the poet. Holmes is clearly enamoured of his subject. It is a book that will make you laugh out loud in places. You will see exactly why Charles Lamb said of his great friend "He is an archangel, damaged."

I was lucky enough to find a 'new' copy of this book. It is wonderfully and appropriately illustrated, though not necessarily for children. I recommend this to fans of Coleridge, and to fans of eclectic books in general.

All right, you may not be terribly fond of Coleridge. Or you may think he was a poet-god. In either case, I recommend this pop-up version of the "drugged-out classic" (as a prof. of mine once called it) to everyone over the age of, say, 17. Bantock's imaginative use of the familiar pop-up genre, as well as his distinctive art style, accentuate the poetry perfectly. I'm still kicking myself for not buying that beaten-up copy I found in New York. This is definitely worth the search.

This review refers to "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Other Poems" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge....

Get swept away to a world of dreams in this beautiful collection of Coleridge's best poetry.Open this book to any poem and you will immediatly be transported to fantastick worlds and mysterious voyages.You will find no need to get caught up in trying to anaylze, you'll just be caught up in his words.The reader can identify their own experiences within his works, and make their own interpertations.

Coleridge will stir your imagination with such great works as the adventurous and ghostly voyage of "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"(in the entire 7 parts),the dream land of "Kubla Khan", and my personal favorite,the sadly unfinished other worldly fairy tale of "Christabel".

You'll find many others of his classic poetry that emcompasses both worlds of dreams and reality. "The Pain of Sleep", ""The Fruit Plucker" and "Time, Real and Imaginary" are examples of these.Other works included are "If I Had But Two Little Wings","Songs from 'Zapolya'", "Youth and Age", and the beautiful "Frost at Midnight", all stories of love and life.

There are many more wonderful writings to be found here and they are both ageless and to be enjoyed by any age. There are poems to be read aloud almost as songs.There are poems to read to yourself as well.

"He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all."...
From"The Ancient Marnier"

A great gift for yourself or the poetry lover in your life...enjoy..Laurie

Coleridge is the only English Romantic poet I like, and Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the main reason. However, this collection also contains another long poem that is often overlooked--Christabel. This a very haunting poem which was unfortunately unfinished when Coleridge died. As for the rest of the selections, Kubla Khan is really the only short poem of the same quality as Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Coleridge is a writer/thinker whose own life and works, particularly the later ones, seem to defy the eye of future standard, especially in an age of slick convenience. He is looking for "the vast," does not ignore German idealism like so many other Brits, nor philology, and seeks the vast from the socio-political context of a well-booked, if ne'er-do-too-well, remote, clergy-trained, English townsman. Some chapters are almost unbearably (to our age) slow, but don't forget this was the era of the triple decker, and Coleridge's reading (as was his library) was varied and vast. In all it may serve best the reader who keeps STC's religious and political anachronisms in context without relinquishing their flavor. Although this is another one of those disappearing (if at times arcane) gems by dead, white, European males whom we are obliged to ignore these days, yet Coleridge's romanticism, honest pessimism, and philosophical searching will never be passe for the thoughtful. And inasmuch as this title includes some of his lesser known mature work, the rich surpise implicit in that description will happen, recurrently and rewardingly, on the thoughtful reader.

The Romantics redefined english literature, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge was one of the leaders. Between he and William Wordsworth, they WERE the movement. His vision, and glorified writing style still tantalize me to this day.

This book was well ahead of its time. A careful reading of recent Coleridge scholarship reveals that Taylor's work identified and illuminated those ideas of STC that would be most discussed at the end of the century.

I thoroughly enjoyed this tape. Beautiful poetry read by beautiful voices. It's wonderful for playing in the car on long journeys, it could even be the perfect antidote to road rage. Very relaxing.

The Poetry of this astounding collection is heart-taking. It captures the moment of the struggles, hopes, and dreams of each poet presenting his work. The arrangement of each work of poetic art and word painting builds in intensity as it slowely, yet enjoyably leads the reader to a climactic conclusion with Coleridge's heart-pounding and breath-taking "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." For poetry fans, it is a must read, and for casaual readers, the joy and plaeasure of reading this colection still shines through.

Several actors read of many of S. T. Coleridge's best-known poems. A narrator summarizes Coleridge's life and introduces his poems in chronological order. The two cassette tapes include all the major poems (a few of the longer ones such as Christabel as excerpts), plus several minor poems that illuminate significant events in his life. The only downside is this -- although the HighBridge Company produced an outstanding package that introduces Coleridge's life and poetry, they unfortunately neglected to include liner notes. For instance, one has no way of finding out the names of the narrator and the actors reading the poems. The readers are very good. After listening to these outstanding readings, I gained a new appreciation of Coleridge's poetry. Highly recommended.

This is an incredible book, a collaboration, really, featuring reproductions of the wood engravings that were created by Gustave Dore in 1875, inspired by this epic poem by Samuel Coleridge. (the editorial reviews are confusing, because they describe books by different artists) There are 42 magnificent illustrations, on 9 x 12 pages no less, for just six bucks and change. You won't find a better bargain here.

I have to disagree with the bad rap this poem often gets. Sure, Coleridge's 4-3-4-3 meter is simple and easily imitable, but that does not change the fact that he used the meter masterfully, that his verse is beautiful and his imagery splendid (even without the woodcuts). The story is fairly simple, though its effect is somewhat chilling. Yes, I've even heard the Mariner compared to Popeye with a dead bird around his neck. But all joking aside, this is a beautiful poem.

On the surface, this may just seem to be a simple poem by an English Romantic. But there is so much more. There is a lesson to be learned, one of respect for God's creatures and for all of creation. This is certainly a Romantic point of view, and Coleridge puts it forth very nicely in this poem.

This is a great beginning poem for novices of poetry, for beginners and for people who dislike poetry if it doesn't rhyme and have a definite rhythm. This is definitely Coleridge's best poem, one that everyone should be familiar with. This version with the woodcuts makes for a very attractive package--the illustrations add nicely to the poems overall effect.

And all the boards did shrink. Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink." These famous lines, like the opening lines of Coleridge's Kubla Khan, are often quoted, but I sometimes wonder if the people who quote them have read this wonderful poem. The poem is full of mystery and horror, from the Mariner stopping the wedding guest, to the incident w/ the albatros, to the gambling of Death and Death-In-Life... I could go on and on. The language is so rich, and the poet's comments make the content more clear for anyone who becomes confused. The illustrations of this edition are beautiful and definately complement the text. This is a haunting poem that you will want to read again and again. If you have not read it before, do yourself a favor and find a copy.