Coleridge: Early Visions :: Richard Holmes Biography Essays

Coleridge Early VisionsRichard Holmes intent in his biography on Coleridge is apparent from the opening pages. In fact, even his title implies his purpose of cover Coleridge as a visionary hero. In his preface Holmes clearly spells egress his plan for achieving this purpose. He explains that much of the previous work done on Coleridge has focused on the more negative aspects of his life--his opium addiction, his plagiarisms, his fecklessness in marriage, his political apostasy, his internal fantasies, and his radiations of mystic humbug (xv). Holmes sets out to write a different typeface of biography his attempt examines Coleridges entire life in a ample and sympathetic manner and reconciles his faults with the extraordinary man and the extraordinary mind (xv). In the process he hopes to show that Coleridges visionary genius alone makes him worth rediscovering (xv). In this first volume of a planned two pop biography, Holmes traces Coleridges life up to the year 1804. Througho ut his work he systematic all(prenominal)y emphasizes the spirit, energy, and unrelenting power of imagination that made Coleridge unique. He examines the highs and lows of his life and leaves his commentator with both a vivid image of Coleridge, the man, and a number of questions and possibilities to ponder.Holmes building and course are essential to his success at bringing Coleridge vital for his reader. His biography follows a traditional narrative structure, and his language is direct and unpretentious. This style brings a novelistic quality to the biography it reads quickly and enjoyably. Holmes encourages his reader to forget all that he has heard about Coleridge in the past and discover him once more as a fresh character in Holmes story. Holmes moves quickly finished the early part of Coleridges life, stopping along the way to focus on particular proposition instances which exemplify Coleridges early intellectual and imaginative powers or which subsequently influence a spects of his life or literary work. Holmes discusses Coleridges enormous appetite for class period and the early age at which it began he focuses on a specific night Coleridge nearly froze to death along the River Otter and he examines the emotional and functional consequences of the death of Coleridges father. Holmes repeatedly returns to these moments throughout the biography as they become relevant. In chapter four, with his discussion of Coleridges friendship with Robert Southey and their plans for their utopian Pantisocratcy, Holmes makes a transition from Coleridges youth to his vainglorious literary life.