Samuel Taylor Coleridge is one of the most influential, and one of the most enigmatic, of all Romantic figures. This Cambridge Companion does full justice to the many facets of Coleridge's life and work. Specially commissioned essays focus on his major poems, his notebooks and the Biographia Literaria. Attention is given to his role as talker, journalist, critic, and philosopher, his politics, religion, and his contemporary and subsequent reputation. A chronology and guides to further reading complete the volume, making this an indispensable guide to Coleridge and his work.