Samuel Taylor Coleridge Poet A Linguistic at Heart

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Poet

A Linguistic at Heart • Understands words and language – Both written and spoken language. Understands relationship between communication and meaning. • Typical jobs include: – Writers, journalists, speakers, copy-writers, English teachers, poets, editors, translators, PR consultants, TV and radio commentators and voice-over animators.

Life • Born in Ottery St. Mary, Devonshire • Youngest of 10, 12, or 14 children depending on which source you look into • His father died when he was 9 and he was sent away to a London charity school for children of the clergy • His brother Luke died in 1790 and his only sister Ann in 1791, inspiring him to write “Monody, ” which is one of his first poems – He was very ill around this time and took laudanum for the illness, this was the beginning to his lifelong opium addiction Opium is a drug distilled from the juice of the poppy flower. It contains morphine.

Life Continued • He went to Cambridge in 1791, despite being poor, and rapidly worked himself into debt with opium, alcohol, and women. • He dropped out of college because of financial problems (because of the opium addiction) • He then married Sara Fricker in 1795 and then had a son, Hartley, that was born the following year. • The same year Coleridge met William Wordsworth and the two spent much time discussing poetry, politics, and philosophy. • The two decided to collaborate on a volume of poems intended to revolutionize the practice of contemporary poetry.

• In 1799 he fell in love with Sara Hutchinson and soon after separated from his wife, the other Sara. • In 1810 Coleridge became estranged from Wordsworth, who disapproved of the irresponsible way in which he handled his family obligations. • Not long after this he suffered from the chronic illness of rheumatoid arthritis or neuralgia, which led to a life long OPIUM addiction. • He died on July 25, 1834

Coleridge and the English Language • Unique command of written word • Uses literary devices to create images – May understand better when Kubla Khan is read – Alliteration- repetition of first consonant • Waning moon was haunted by woman wailing for her demon lover

• Assonance- repetition of vowel sounds • Find examples in lines 31 -34 • • The shadow of the dome of pleasure Floated midway on the waves; Where was heard the mingled measure From the fountain and the caves. • Now find Alliteration in the above lines

Assonance • • • Assonance: Midway/waves Heard/measure Alliteration: Mingled measure

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner ~ The poem starts out with an old sailor telling a story to a guest at a wedding. Coleridge may use this occasion because the Mariner’s story is a warning about the isolation and guilt brought about by a break with nature and society, while a wedding affirms UNITY. ~ The ancient mariner was a captain of a ship and while out to sea, he was surrounded by a fog and blown off course by an incredible wind. When the fog finally lifted he and his crew were somewhere near Antarctica. An Albatross shows up and saves the day by showing them how to get back home. As soon as they were on their way, the ancient mariner shot the Albatross with a crossbow for no good reason! Just to be mean to animals.

• ~ Now, because he shot the Albatross, the spirit of the South becomes very angry and he sends a Specter Woman and her Death mate to capture the ancient mariner and his crew. The crew saw the ship coming and as to lay blame of the death of the Albatross on the captain, they tied a string around the Albatross and then around the captain’s neck.

All fall dead after Specter Woman comes Specter Woman and Death mate kill the shipmates symbolizing the way GUILT cuts off an individual from others.

~ The crew all of a sudden up and died (Death) with accusing eyes to the ancient mariner. Because of the accusing eyes of his crew, he was unable to look up into the heavens and pray for his own safety. After a week of journey the captain was looking over the railing of the ship and he saw a water snake. Unaware, he blessed the water snake and upon this he was able to pray and the Albatross fell from his neck and sank to the bottom of the sea like lead. The abatross is a symbol of GUILT for man’s break with nature or society. It fell off because his guilt was FORGIVEN. The ancient mariner was returned to his ship and angelic spirits entered the body of his crew.

~ The ancient mariner was then put into a trance so that the spirits could move the ship so quickly that human life could not endure. Upon reaching his homeland, he awoke from his trance and the angelic spirits left the bodies of his dead crewmen and returned to their home in the sky. The ancient mariner then had to find the Hermit of the Woods so that he could teach the ancient mariner compassion for the animals.

Ancient Mariner Theme • The Rime of the Ancient Mariner relates to the Romantics by nature: – Because of the Ancient Mariner shooting down the Albatross, the spirit of the South got angry at him for killing a part of nature. – After he wasn’t able to pray to the heavens, he unknowingly blessed the water snakes. By doing so, he saved himself.

Song Comparison • The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Iron Maiden is EXACTLY the same as the poem by Coleridge.

Kubla Khan

Kubla Khan • In Xanadu, Kubla Khan built a pleasure dome where the River Alph ran. Walls were built around “twice five miles of fertile ground” filled with gardens and forests. The river ran for five miles through the forest and into an ocean. There, the sounds of a woman wailing to her demon lover could be heard. Kubla also heard ancestral voices prophesying war. • Speaker said he once saw a “damsel with a dulicmer” who sang of Mount Abora. He said that he could revive her music within him and rebuild the pleasure dome with song. • All those who had heard would cry “beware” and circle him thrice and close their eyes with “holy dread” because he had tasted honeydew and “drunk the milk of Paradise”.

Kubla Khan Theme • You can NOT bar out the world and build a UTOPIA. It’s an IDEAL CONCEPT, but doesn’t work. • The Romantics believed that in one’s core, they are one with nature. • Kubla Khan explains the “Eternal Delight” of untamed nature (Chaos) and how it is beyond human control, possibly meaning that wild disorder in the chasm might represent the pressures that drive artists to the ordered creation of works of art like the dome. They must always face the critic.

Analysis • What does the“Holy Dread” experienced by “all who heard” suggest about the power of ART?

Possible answer • It suggests that art can reveal truths that are dark and disturbing • Connection between this “dread” and the existence of the chasm at the site of the dome?

Analysis and Sinister Elements • The dread aroused can be caused by the source or inspiration of the artistic endeavor. • . Sinister elements: – Sunless sea, waning moon, woman wailing for her DEMON lover, the chasm and the emptying fountain, and the lifeless ocean.

Unfinished Poem • Coleridge fell asleep and dreamed for 3 hours and when he awoke remembered the whole dream vividly and began writing down the lines without any trouble. • This poem is uncompleted because a salesman from Porlock knocked on the door and detained him for an hour. He couldn’t remember the rest of the dream and therefore it can be open to many different interpretations on theme

QUIZ • 1. Who did Coleridge collaborate with on Lyrical Ballads? • 2. His neuralgia and rheumatoid arthritis led to what addiction? • 3. Why is Kubla Khan unfinished? • 4. List 2 literary devices he used. • 5. What is theme of Kubla Khan?

• 6. What does the CHAOS in Kubla Khan represent? • 7. On what occasion does the Mariner tell his story? • 8. Interpret- Why do you think Coleridge chose this occasion for the poem? • 9. Why was the mariner punished and what must he wear for his crime? • 10. What happens to the ship mates after the appearance of the Specter Woman and her Death-mate?

• 11. What is symbolized by Specter Woman’s actions? • 12. Why does the albatross finally fall from around the mariner’s neck? • 13. What do you think the Albatross symbolizes? Support your answer. • 14. What is the mariner’s life long penance? • 15. What larger lesson about human life might his story suggest?