First published in 1966. Despite the intense interest in Coleridge in the twentieth century, this book represents the first study of Coleridge s poetry to be published in Britain. It is also the first to be based upon the conclusion that Coleridge s greatness as a poet is a matter of achievement rather than aspiration and to argue that his literary career was nearly half a century long, consisting of more than just well-known texts like "The Ancient Mariner" and "Kubla Khan." The author argues the formality of the romantic achievement and its success in creating whole and fully realised...

First published in 1962, this book reveals unexpected complexity or equivocation in Wordsworth s use of certain key words, particularly image, form and shape . The author endeavours to show that this complexity is related to the poet s awareness of the ambiguity of the perceptual process. Numerous passages from "The Prelude "and other poems are analysed to illustrate the argument and to show that, because of this doubt or hidden perplexity, Wordsworth s poetry has a far richer texture, is more concentrated, intricately organised and loaded with ambivalent meanings than it would otherwise...

Beginning with the publication of their joint collection of poems "Lyrical Ballads "in 1798, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge were instrumental in helping to establish the Romantic Movement as a major force in nineteenth century British literature. Two of the movement s greatest figures, they were responsible for composing some of the most well-known poems in the British literary canon and influenced generations of acolytes. They were also the foremost literary critics of the period, contributing influential writings on literary theory and philosophy exemplified by Coleridge...