Coleridge context

• What is pantisocracy? 


  A utopian society that Coleridge created with Robert Southey, where there was no defining government. They wanted a small group of educated people to give up their possessions and come together for the common good. Coleridge thought it would stop the greed among young men.
• What is Pantheism? 


  Shows divinity as being a part of the universe, often manifesting itself through nature
• What is the primary imagination?

  The imagination possessed by al, it is the power to receive inspiration form the outside world.
• What is the secondary imagination?

  The mixing of the human mind with nature, it is more conscious than the primary and is generally only enjoyed by the artist.
• What was Coleridge's father?

  An Anglican vicar
• What did Coleridge think were the five stages of prayer?

  Pressure of immediate calamities, horrible solitude, repentance and regret, celestial declaration, self-annihilation
• What was he an apologist (defender of a certain opinion) of?

  The liberal Anglican point of view
• What was he a preachor of between 1796-1797?

  Unitarianism
• Thomas de Quincey (friend of Coleridge) wrote that in - 'his own particular opinion...


  that the art of praying was the highest energy of which the human heart was capable'
• Who was Charles Lamb?


  A friend of Coleridge, directly addressed in Lime-Tree. His sister killer their mother during a mental breakdown.
• Who is James Cook? 


  An explorer. Coleridge's tutor, William Wales was the astronomer on cook's flagship voyage. For Rime, Coleridge may have been inspired by Cooks 2nf voyage, where he crossed three times into the Antarctic circle.
• What is Unitarianism?


  Religious affirmation in Christianity that God is one entity rather than part of a trinity.
• What was Coleridge's experience with Opium? 


  • Diagnosed Laudanum (form of Opium) for his chronic rheumatic pain but developed a dependency on it which he described as 'desire and loathing strangely mixed'
  • He was vulnerable to accidental addiction because of his lifelong depression
  • His addiction inspired many works - kubla khan,
  • Addiction drove a wedge between him and friends, he died under constant care of James Gillman who tried to help him recover.
• What is Romanticism?


  Movement often associated with the lake poets, that focused on the power and beauty of nature and the sublime. Also emphasised childhood as a golden age, focus on the imagination, salvation, individualism and symbols.
• Who was Sara Fricker?


  Coleridge's wife
• Who was Sara Hutchinson?


  The other woman
• Who was Sara Fricker? 


  • His wife, she married Coleridge in 1795, by 1804 they were separated
  • They lived together for six years during which Coleridge suffered various illnesses and had a lot of opium. The dream of domestic bliss soon died and Sara ended up doing much of the work
  • Coleridge left her for long periods of time to go on trips with Wordsworth. Even after one of their children passed away, Coleridge did not hurry home to see his wife, and instead made a detour to London
• Who was William Wordsworth?


  • Bestie of Coleridge
  • Coleridge was jealous of Wordsworth childhood, surrounded by nature
  • Wrote lyrical ballads together
  • Coleridge's poem for him was written in admiration of the Prelude, Coleridge attacks himself in the poem and is jealous of Wordsworth ability to find bliss in solitude
  • Wordsworth had a French love affair and had a child from it
• Who was Sara Hutchinson?


  • The younger sister of Mary Hutchinson, who married Wordsworth and lived with them for several years
  • 'Dejection: An Ode' was part of the 'Asra collection', Asra meaning captivating in Arabic
  • He was entirely in love with sara, and was rejected by her several times
  • 'Dejection: An Ode' was to be called 'Letter to Sara Hutchinson'
  • He had to cut her off in the end to avoid the pain