Biographia Literaria : Or, Biographical Sketches of My Literary Life and Opinions

Despite the friendship and collaborations between Samuel Coleridge?and William Wordsworth, the pair were not completely compatible in their respective?literary visions. In his Biographia Literaria, Coleridge attempts to do?what Wordsworth did in Preface to the Lyrical Ballads: offer his perspective?on the value and nature of poetry. Throughout the piece, Coleridge draws?important distinctions between his poetic ideals and Wordsworth?s. One key?facet of Coleridge?s philosophy is his insistence on the necessity of?imagination which is more complex than many reader?s contemporary notions of?the imagination. Additionally, Coleridge establishes his view that good poetry?does not necessarily have to be written in "the language of men," as Wordsworth?suggested. For Coleridge, poetry should use diction that is lofty and more?beautiful than ordinary speech. Since its publication in 1817,?Biographia Literaria has become an?essential document in the study of English Romanticism.?