Poems
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1796-1834
- Form
- Lyric poetry
- Language
- English
- Length
- Medium · 250 pp120 to 300 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Complete PoemsPenguin Classics, 1997William Keach's edition is complete and inexpensive; Oxford World's Classics has a good selection.
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Coleridge's poetry, of which a few pieces written between 1797 and 1802 carry his reputation. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner tells of a sailor who kills an albatross and is cursed; Kubla Khan is a fragment of a vision of a pleasure-dome, supposedly composed in an opium dream; Christabel is an unfinished Gothic tale of a girl and a demonic guest. Around these stand the conversation poems, including Frost at Midnight and This Lime-Tree Bower, and Dejection, an ode on the loss of the poet's own imagination.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Poems are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.