Summary

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
--from "Kubla Khan"
From the time he was very young, Coleridge hoped he would be remembered as a poet; masterpieces such as "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," "Kubla Khan," and "Frost at Midnight" assured that his dream would come true. These verses, and the 32 others in this extraordinary collection, testify to the genius and power of his writing. From the time Coleridge produced his first volume of poetry in 1796 till his death in 1834, he created works as diverse as "The Eolian Harp," which begins as a sweet love poem but by the end becomes something much more; "To a Critic," a sharp rebuke to those who cruelly tear apart and misinterpret the poet's work; and the unfinished narrative verse, "Christabel."