Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born today in writing history, October 21. Celebrate the poet’s birthday by learning more about his life and contributions to the literary world. Aspiring writers should also use this opportunity as a writing exercise. Look for inspiration today in writing history.

Writing Prompts for Today In Writing: October 21

Please take this opportunity to learn more about Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his contributions to romantic literature. The poet’s work was highly admired and served as an inspiration for many of his contemporaries. Coleridge is responsible for coining the term “suspension of disbelief.”

What led Samuel Taylor Coleridge to write? Where did the inspiration for his ideas come from? And what helped the poet create his writing style? Find inspiration about Coleridge, learn more details about his life, and write!

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Biography

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born in Ottery St. Mary, Devon, England, on October 21, 1772. His father, Reverend John Coleridge, was a respected vicar and schoolmaster in the small town. His mother, Anne Bowden, was Reverand Coleridge’s second wife, and Samuel would be the family’s last of ten total children.

Coleridge’s Education

As a child, Coleridge preferred reading to the sports his classmates played. In 1781, Reverend John Coleridge died when Samuel was 8. The young poet was sent to Christ’s Hospital, a charity school, where he studied and wrote poetry. His love for literature exploded in school, and the poet was introduced to and influenced by several pieces of classic literature, like Robinson Crusoe and the works of Virgil. The poet had a strong appreciation for his early education.

However, Coleridge also wrote of his loneliness during these times. He would enroll at Jesus College, Cambridge, from 1791 to 1794, where he continued to write. In 1793, Coleridge briefly left school to enlist in the British Army under a fake name. It is a move thought to have been caused by Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s rejection by Mary Evans, a girl he was courting. His brother secured Samuel’s discharge on the grounds of insanity. Coleridge would return to college but would not graduate with a degree.

One of the most significant events of Coleridge’s aspiring writing career was his introduction to William Wordsworth in 1795. The two poets would become close friends and collaborators, launching the romantic poetry movement. From 1797 to 1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge would produce some of his most praised work in Somerset, England, in a home now known as Coleridge Cottage. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Kubla Khan, This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison, Frost at Midnight, and The Nightingale were all written during this span.

Coleridge and Wordsworth would travel to Germany in September 1798, a visit that would introduce the poets to German philosophy. In the following years, Samuel Taylor Coleridge would take other European trips to Sicily and Malta. During this period, the poet developed an addiction to opium, a battle he struggled with throughout his later life.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge died in Highgate, London, on July 25, 1834, from heart failure compounded by an unknown lung disorder potentially linked to his opium addiction. For the last 18 years, Coleridge lived with the Gillman family, who built an addition to their home to accommodate the poet. His poetry continues to inspire and entertain over two centuries after its publication.

10 Samuel Taylor Coleridge Quotes

1. Works of imagination should be written in very plain language; the more purely imaginative they are the more necessary it is to be plain.

2. Poetry: the best words in the best order.

3. Until you understand a writer’s ignorance, presume yourself ignorant of his understanding.

4. No mind is thoroughly well organized that is deficient in a sense of humor.

5. No one does anything from a single motive.

6. Language is the armory of the human mind, and at once contains the trophies of its past and the weapons of its future conquests.

7. He is the best physician who is the most ingenious inspirer of hope.

8. Friendship is a sheltering tree.

9. No man was ever yet a great poet, without being at the same time a profound philosopher.

10. Talk of the devil, and his horns appear.

Notable Samuel Taylor Coleridge Poems

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Kubla Khan

The Knight’s Tomb

Love 

Work without Hope

Christabel

Dejection: An Ode

Human Life

The Pains of Sleep

Frost at Midnight

Today in Writing: October 21 – Daily Writing Exercise

Now that you have done some reading, it is time to write. Aspiring writers should look to the stories from Today in Writing: October 21 and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s life. Read his quotes and study his poetry to understand the poet’s writing style. 

Find a topic and freewrite for 10 minutes. Coleridge became a central figure in romantic poetry and worked alongside some of the most well-known poets of his time. Through his experiences and literary interests, the poet created a unique style of prose the literary world had not seen before. Aspiring writers should pay homage to his short-lived inspiration and start writing.

Don’t let any opportunity to write go to waste. Aspiring writers: Practice your writing today. Celebrate Today in Writing History October 21.