Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coledridge, writes about the same things the the rest of the Romantics do, life, nature, and man. It was interesting reading about Coleridge and the problems he faced in his personal life, he faced drug addiction and it affected his life. However, during this time they did not understand addiction and it was not dealt with daily. Coleridge regarded his problem as a moral flaw. I found interesting that although they did not have rehab facilities as we do today, that he still went and stayed with a doctor to help him with his addiction to laudanum. My favorite Coleridge writing was The Eolian Harp.
This poem was about Coleridge's feelings for his wife Sara Fricker, which did not end up working out. I am speculating that part of the reason that Coleridge had been attracted to the idea of marrying her is because everything else in his life had failed, he had been sent to the boarding school and marrying Sara would help him socially.

In The Eolian Harp, again as the Romantic poets tend to do they use nature as a metaphor to describe their feelings and happiness. " Voyage on gentle gales from Fairy-Land/Where Melodies round honey-dropping flowers/ Footless and wild, like birds of Paradise" He is using nature to describe how happy he is on his honeymoon with his wife.
"O the one life within us and abroad/ Which meets all motion and becomes its soul/A light in sound, a sound like power in light/ Rythmn in all thought, and joyance everywhere"
He is in tune with nature, and appreciating everything in nature. It does seem as if when one is in love then everything seems a little prettier and everything in life seems easier. That is one of the reason I like this poem because it shows that no matter how old or what century you come from love has the same effect on everyone.