Super Short Summary

Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria, published in 1817, is a semiautobiographical work that explores his literary career, philosophical ideas, and critiques of contemporary thinkers, particularly addressing his close friend William Wordsworth’s theories on poetry and language. Coleridge recounts his education, debates on aesthetic matters, and develops his own theory of Imagination, contrasting it with Wordsworth’s emphasis on "rustic language." The work also covers Coleridge's travels in Germany and provides a critique of foreign drama before summarizing his theories on poetry and the arts.