The supply of material for a _Life_ of Coleridge is fairly plentiful, though it is not very easily come by. For the most part it needs to be hunted up or fished up--those accustomed to the work will appreciate the difference between the two processes--from a considerable variety of contemporary documents. Completed biography of the poet-philosopher there is none, as has been said, in existence; and the one volume of the unfinished _Life_ left us by Mr. Gillman--a name never to be mentioned with disrespect, however difficult it may sometimes be to avoid doing so, by any one who honours the name and genius of Coleridge--covers, and that in but a loose and rambling fashion, no more than a few years. Mr. Cottle's _Recollections of Southey, Wordsworth, and Coleridge_ contains some valuable information on certain points of importance, as also does the _Letters, Conversations, etc., of S. T. C._ by Mr. Allsop. Miss Meteyard's _Group of Eminent Englishmen_ throws much light on the relations between Coleridge and his early patrons the Wedgwoods. Everything, whether critical or biographical, that De Quincey wrote on Coleridgian matters requires, with whatever discount, to be carefully studied. _The Life of Wordsworth,_ by the Bishop of St. Andrews; _The Correspondence of Southey;_ the Rev. Derwent Coleridge's brief account of his father's life and writings; and the prefatory memoir prefixed to the 1880 edition of Coleridge's _Poetical and Dramatic Works_, have all had to be consulted. But, after all, there remain several tantalising gaps in Coleridge's life which refuse to be bridged over; and one cannot but think that there must be enough unpublished matter in the possession of his relatives and the representatives of his friends and correspondents to enable some at least, though doubtless not all, of these missing links to be supplied. Perhaps upon a fitting occasion and for an adequate purpose these materials would be forthcoming. CONTENTS. _POETICAL PERIOD._ CHAPTER I. [1772-1794.] Birth, parentage, and early years--Christ's Hospital--Jesus College, Cambridge. CHAPTER II. [1794-1797.] The Bristol Lectures--Marriage--Life at Clevedon--The _Watchman_--Retirement to Stowey--Introduction to Wordsworth. CHAPTER III. [1797-1799.] Coleridge and Wordsworth--Publication of the _Lyrical Ballads_--The _Ancient Mariner_--The first part of _Christabel_--Decline of Coleridge's poetic impulse--Final review of his poetry. _CRITICAL PERIOD._ CHAPTER IV. [1799-1800.] Visit to Germany--Life at Gottingen--Return--Explores the Lake country--London--The _Morning Post_--Coleridge as a journalist--Retirement to Keswick. CHAPTER V. [1800-1804.] Life at Keswick--Second part of _Christabel_--Failing health--Resort to opium--The _Ode to Dejection_--Increasing restlessness--Visit to Malta. CHAPTER VI. [1806-1809.] Stay at Malta--Its injurious effects--Return to England--Meeting with De Quincey--Residence in London--First series of lectures.