A preface to Coleridge

the long version

A primary function of this book is a backwards and forwards reference between individual works, the man in his society, against it or even out of it altogether, and the background of intellectual, aesthetic and political affairs. At the centre of the book is Part Two, a critical survey of Coleridge's major poety. Part One is a series of studies of Coleridge's beginnings as a poet and his development as a thinker. It also provides a biographical and chronological skeleton. Part Three is designed to fulfil two functions, the first of which is to give information about people and places relevant to Coleridge's life and work. The second function of Part Three is to invite the reader to be tempted further into the arena of Coleridge studies by providing some of the equipment required for such an enterprise. - Introduction.