Question

What are the major and minor points in biographia literaria?

Answer 1

Biographia Literaria is an autobiography written in meditative style by the poet and critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge in a discourse format in 1817. The autobiography was published in two volumes with twenty three chapters. While this work was initially meant to be a preface to his poems, it went on to include various details such as that about his education, studies and early literary adventures.

Coleridge talks in depth about William Wordsworth’s poetry. Although he criticizes the latter at certain places, he does not deny that Wordsworth is a poetic genius and the best contemporary poet. He also builds a theory on the basic differences between fancy and imagination. According to the poet, imagination is more creative than fancy, and can be either primary or secondary.