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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Steven Morris

Samuel Taylor Coleridge wanted to ‘bid farewell’ to writing at 22, letter reveals

Samuel Taylor Coleridge George Dyer William Wordsworth
The letter was written to his friend George Dyer, a leading English radical who championed the young Coleridge, in January 1795.
The letter was written to Coleridge’s friend George Dyer, a leading English radical who championed the young poet. Photograph: Bernard Quaritch Ltd

He would go on to write The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan, two of the greatest English poems.

But in a letter written when he was 22, Samuel Taylor Coleridge revealed he was contemplating packing it all in and fading into obscurity.

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