Samuel Taylor Coleridge

English poet, critic, and philosopher (Ottery St Mary, Devonshire, 1772 - Highgate, London, 1834). The work "Lyrical Ballads," 1798, co-authored with William Wordsworth, is considered to have inaugurated the Romantic movement in England. Between 1798-1799, he learned German and attended philosophy courses at the University of Gottingen, showing interest in Kant's philosophy. Towards the end of the same year, he fell in love with Sara Hutchinson, the sister of Wordsworth's future wife, to whom he dedicated the poem: "Dejection: An Ode," 1802. In 1809-1810, he co-edited the political and literary review "The Friend" with her, and shortly thereafter, he was recognized as the greatest Shakespearean critic of his time. During this period, severe rheumatic pains led him to opium addiction, and he began contemplating suicide. Eventually, he found refuge in Highgate, near London, at the home of Dr. James Gillman, while his reputation grew among the younger Romantics. In 1824, he was elected a member of the Royal Society of Literature. His other works include: "Poems on Various Subjects," 1796, "Poems," 1797, "Christabel" (unfinished), 1816, "Kubla Khan" (unfinished), 1816, "Sibylline Leaves," 1817, "Biographia Literaria," 1817.