Coleridge and the Abyssinian Maid

First published in 1967, this book seeks to show the causes which led to Coleridge's breakdown in 1802 and to indicate how his views on poetry changed as a result of it. The approach is selective in that it only focuses on one part of Coleridge's life (roughly 1793-1810); however the author attempts to relate a number of different areas of his activity and to trace his emotional and moral development more closely than might be possible in a full-scale biography. The account of Coleridge's life ends in 1810, when his relationship with the two key figures in his life Asra and Wordsworth had ruptured, as this reflected which of Coleridge's Notebooks were available at the time.

Geoffrey Yarlott

Preface; Introduction; Abbreviations; 1 Wanted: a Sheet Anchor 2 Love; the vital Air 3 Thought ad Feeling 4 Annus Mirabilis 5 Kubla Khan 6 The Ancient Mariner 7 Christabel 8 The Emotional equation 9 Dejection 10 The Whole Man; Appendices; I 'Meek Daughter in the Family of Christ' II The Abyssinian Maid III 'Motive' in The Ancient Mariner IV Geraldine and Genevieve; General Index; Index of Titles