Hartley Coleridge
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Hartley Coleridge, possibly David Hartley Coleridge (19 September 1796 – 6 January 1849), was an English poet, biographer, essayist, and teacher. He was the eldest son of the poet
Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poe ...
. His sister
Sara Coleridge Sara Coleridge (23 December 1802 – 3 May 1852) was an English author and translator. She was the third child out of four and the only daughter of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his wife Sara Fricker. She gained further popularity with in ...
was a poet and translator, and his brother
Derwent Coleridge Derwent Coleridge (14 September 1800 – 28 March 1883), third son of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, was a distinguished English scholar and author. Early life Derwent Coleridge was born at Keswick, Cumberland, 14 September 1800 (Derwent Water i ...
was a scholar and author. Hartley was named after the philosopher David Hartley.


Biography


Early life

Hartley was born in
Clevedon Clevedon (, ) is an English seaside town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, part of the ceremonial county of Somerset. It recorded a parish population of 21,281 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, estimated at 21,442 i ...
, a small village near
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
. His father mentions Hartley in several poems, including the well-known ''
Frost at Midnight ''Frost at Midnight'' is a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in February 1798. Part of the conversation poems, the poem discusses Coleridge's childhood experience in a negative manner and emphasizes the need to be raised in the countryside ...
'', where he addresses him as his "babe so beautiful", and in his '' The Nightingale: A Conversation Poem'', both of which are concerned with young Hartley's future. In the autumn of 1800 Samuel Taylor Coleridge moved his wife and young son Hartley to the
Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...
. They took a home in the vale of
Derwentwater Derwentwater, or Derwent Water, is one of the principal bodies of water in the Lake District National Park in north west England. It lies wholly within the Borough of Allerdale, in the county of Cumbria. The lake occupies part of Borrowda ...
, on the bank of the Greta River, about a mile away from
Greta Hall Greta Hall is a house in Keswick in the Lake District of England. It is best known as the home of the poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey. Overview The official address of Greta Hall is Main Street, Keswick, but it is located some ...
, Keswick, the future home of the poet
Robert Southey Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ra ...
, which was then being built. Hartley spent his early years in the care of Robert Southey at Greta Hall, which possessed the best library in the neighbourhood. Hartley's brother Derwent wrote the following about Hartley's time at Greta Hall:
"The unlimited indulgence with which he was treated at Greta Hall, tended, without doubt, to strengthen the many and strong peculiarities of his nature, and may perhaps have contributed to that waywardness and want of control, from which in later-life he suffered so deeply."


Education

Hartley received his early education from his father. In 1807 he was taken by his father and
William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...
to
Coleorton Coleorton ( ) is a village and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England. It is situated on the A512 road approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Ashby de la Zouch. Nearby villages include Newbold, to the north, Thringstone to the ...
in
North West Leicestershire North West Leicestershire is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 census was 93,348. Its main towns are Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Castle Donington, Coalville and Ibstock. The dist ...
, and then to London. Here he visited the London theatres, and the
Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
with
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...
. He was also introduced to the study of chemistry by
Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for t ...
. Hartley spent the next eight years in constant companionship with his younger brother Derwent, at home and at school. Beginning in the summer of 1808 they attended school as day-scholars at
Ambleside Ambleside is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lakes, in Cumbria, in North West England. Historically in Westmorland, it marks the head (and sits on the east side of the northern headwater) of Windermere, England's larges ...
, under the tutelage of the Rev. John Dawes. During their time at the school they resided in
Clappersgate Clappersgate is a village in the South Lakeland district, in the county of Cumbria, England. Clappersgate is located on the B5286 road and on the River Brathay. It is near the town of Ambleside Ambleside is a town and former civil par ...
. Their fellow students included the sons of their father's friend, the poet Charles Lloyd. Hartley and Derwent lived in the home of an elderly woman, and enjoyed total freedom in their after-school hours. Hartley, who had no aptitude for sports, spent much of his time reading and taking walks by himself, or telling stories. He had one close friend at the time, a boy named Robert Jameson, not a fellow student, to whom he afterwards addressed a series of sonnets. Somewhere along the way, Hartley conceived the idea of an underground stream of water that would eventually erupt onto the surface, eventually creating a mighty river that would soon attract merchants and land developers, leading to the formation of a new island-continent. He called this imaginary
paracosm A paracosm is a detailed imaginary world thought generally to originate in childhood. The creator of a paracosm has a complex and deeply felt relationship with this subjective universe, which may incorporate real-world or imaginary characters a ...
''Ejuxria'', and laid out its geography and history with great care, explaining everything to Derwent as he went along. Derwent believed that Hartley kept up Ejuxria into adulthood. In his time at the school, Hartley was in constant contact with William Wordsworth and his family. He pursued his studies of English in Wordsworth's library at Allan Bank in Grasmere. His privilege of studying in the Wordsworth library was continued after the Wordsworth family moved to
Rydal Mount Rydal Mount is a house in the small village of Rydal, near Ambleside in the English Lake District. It is best known as the home of the poet William Wordsworth from 1813 to his death in 1850. It is currently operated as a writer's home museu ...
. He went to Oxford in 1815, as a scholar of
Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ch ...
. From 1816 to 1820 he was in receipt of an exhibition funded from the bequest of James Wood administered by the Worshipful Company of Bowyers of the City of London. Derwent Coleridge made this comment about his brother's time at Oxford:
"Though far from a destructive in politics, he was always keenly alive to what he supposed to be the evils and abuses of the existing state of things both in Church and State, while he remained constant in his allegiance to what he believed to be the essentials of both... On all subjects he spoke his mind, often, through whim or impatience, more than his mind, freely, without regard to consequences."
On a vacation in 1818 Hartley met the poet
Chauncy Hare Townshend Chauncy Hare Townshend, whose surname was spelt by his parents as Townsend (20 April 1798, Godalming, Surrey – 25 February 1868), was a 19th-century English poet, clergyman, mesmerist, collector, dilettante and hypochondriac. He is mostly r ...
, who said the following of him:
"I cannot easily convey to you the impression of interest which he made on my mind at that time. There was something so wonderfully original in his method of expressing himself, that on me, then a young man, and only cognisant externally of the prose of life, his sayings, all stamped with the impress of poetry, produced an effect analogous to that which the mountains of Cumberland, and the scenery of the North, were working on my southern-born eye and imagination."
He had inherited much of his father's character, and his lifestyle was such that, although he was successful in gaining a fellowship at
Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, w ...
, at the close of the probationary year (1820) he was judged to have forfeited it, mainly on the grounds of intemperance. The authorities would not reverse their decision; but they awarded him a gift of £300. This incident deeply saddened his father, who did everything he could to try to get the decision reversed, but without success. Hartley suffered from a dependency on alcohol for the rest of his life.


Career

He then spent two years in London, where he wrote short poems for the ''
London Magazine ''The London Magazine'' is the title of six different publications that have appeared in succession since 1732. All six have focused on the arts, literature and miscellaneous topics. 1732–1785 ''The London Magazine, or, Gentleman's Monthly I ...
''. It was around this time that he composed the fragment ''Prometheus'', which his father regarded with much interest. His next step was to become a partner in a school at Ambleside, at the suggestion of his family and friends, a venture which he himself carried out with reluctance, but this scheme failed. After a struggle of four or five years, Hartley abandoned teaching, and moved to Grasmere. From 1826 to 1831, he wrote occasionally in ''
Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine''. The first number appeared in April 1817 ...
'', to which he was introduced by his friend, John Wilson. His contributions to this periodical form part of the general collection of his ''Essays''. In 1830 a
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
publisher, F. E. Bingley, made a contract with him to write biographies of
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
and
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
worthies. These were afterwards republished under the title of ''Biographia Borealis'' (1833) and ''Worthies of Yorkshire and Lancashire'' (1836). Bingley also printed a volume of his poems in 1833, and Coleridge lived in his house until the contract came to an end through the bankruptcy of the publisher. From this time, except for two short periods in 1837 and 1838 when he acted as master at
Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, in North West England. It comprises a junior school for children aged 4 to 13 and the main school for 13 to 18 year olds. It w ...
, he lived quietly at Grasmere and (1840–1849) Rydal, spending his time in study and wanderings about the countryside. His figure was as familiar as Wordsworth's, and he made many friends among the locals. In 1834 he lost his father. Hartley made the following comment about his father's death in a letter to his mother:
"though I cannot say that I was much surprised, yet so little had I prepared my mind for the loss, that it fell upon me as the fulfilment of an unbelieved prophecy: and even yet, though I know it, I hardly believe it. I do not feel fatherless. I often find my mind disputing with itself- What would my father think of this? and when the recollection awakes, that I have no father, it appears more like a possible evil than an actual bereavement."
In 1839 he brought out his edition of
Philip Massinger Philip Massinger (1583 – 17 March 1640) was an English dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including ''A New Way to Pay Old Debts'', ''The City Madam'', and '' The Roman Actor'', are noted for their satire and realism, and their politi ...
and
John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
, with biographies of both dramatists. The closing decade of Coleridge's life was wasted in what he himself called "the woeful impotence of weak resolve". On the death of his mother in 1845, he was placed, by means of an annuity on his life, on a footing of complete independence, but he lived for only three more years. Hartley Coleridge's literary reputation chiefly rests on his works of criticism, on his ''Prometheus'', an unfinished lyric drama, and on his
sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...
s (a form which suited his particular skills). ''Essays and Marginalia, and Poems'', with a memoir by his brother Derwent, appeared in 1851.


Modern criticism

*''Hartley Coleridge, his Life and Work'', E. L. Griggs, R. West, 1977. *''Hartley Coleridge: A Reassessment of His Life and Work'', Andrew Keanie, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.


Notes


References

*


External links

* * ;Individual book titles
Bio & childhood imageEssays of Hartley ColeridgeComplete Poems of Hartley Coleridge, Vol 1Complete Poems of Hartley Coleridge, Vol 2Biographia Borealis; or, Lives of Distinguished NorthernsWorthies of Yorkshire and Lancashire
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleridge, Hartley Hartley English biographers English essayists Headmasters of Sedbergh School People from Clevedon Samuel Taylor Coleridge Alumni of Merton College, Oxford 1796 births 1849 deaths Male essayists English male poets 19th-century English poets People from Grasmere (village) Male biographers