Samuel Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge use of imagination

Samuel Coleridge was an inspiring writer. I feel that his challenges in life lead him to be a great writer. For starters, he started off in college but veered off to enlist in the army. How many of us today start off as a college student and get off the path to try other things? Or better yet wait four or five years and try college again for a second time like me. Samuel was also challenged with failed marriages and drug abuse. I would have never thought that in the 1800s, individuals were faced with drug problems. To me, I view these as challenges. I feel that challenges lead individuals to be more than conquerors in whatever those are set out to be. Coleridge had the challenges to lead him to be an inspiring writer with full of imagination.

Some of Coleridge’s writings helped me to better understand the definition of romantics. Romantics can be defined as imagination. Well Coleridge took it and ran with it. On page 326 in the footnotes, Burnet states, “I can easily believe that there are more invisible creatures in the universe than visible ones.” When reading Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, I sensed a lot of imagination. At times the story was had to follow. I couldn’t figure out if the mariner was a sheriff, a ghost, a boat or an old man.

When I read The Rime of Ancient Mariner, I focused on Part the First and Part the Seventh. I wanted to see how the beginning and the end compared to one another. Part the First started off as a real wedding would. It stated the guests, feasts, groom and bride. Then a storm was mentioned. My first inkling was a guest had interrupted the wedding. Within Part the First it also mentioned an ancient man and a ship. When I reviewed Part the Seventh, it seemed happier to me. There were citizens from other countries. On page 340, it talks about the bride and bridesmaids singing. On page 341, it spoke of the Mariner with bright eyes and a beard and turning away at the bridegroom’s door. This made me think of the Mariner as an older man, maybe a grandfather at the wedding. To me having a grandfather or great grandfather at a wedding smiling and bidding farewell to the bride and groom is a wonderful thing. With me comparing the Part the First and Part the Seventh put my mind into a world of imagination!

We all imagine at some point in our lives. Some of us imagine daily while others seconds and minutes. Some of us use our imagination to view a situation from a different perspective whether it is for the better or worse. I feel that if we allow the mind to get stuck in a mediocre state then we are limiting ourselves. So why not reposition your mind and spirit and life. I believe that this is what Samuel’s writings portrayed. It lead the minds to view things differently in a way to reposition an individual’s thoughts.