A Latin inscription which he placed above his saddle in the stable led
to the discovery of his true condition, and about the same time his
friends learned of his whereabouts. At the end of four months in the
dragoons he was bought out and enabled to return to his studies. He
remained in Cambridge but a short time, however, leaving in 1794
without taking a degree.
The following year he married Miss Sara Fricker. This important step
was taken on the strength of a small sum promised by a bookseller for a
volume of poems which he was then writing. A month later his friend
Robert Southey--afterwards well known as an author--married his wife's
sister. Some time before this, the two young men had conceived the
idea of crossing the sea with a few congenial acquaintances and forming
an ideal community on the bank of the Susquehanna. Fortunately the
scheme was abandoned and the two dreamers turned their attention to
literary projects.
Coleridge's best work as a poet was done in 1797 and 1798, and probably
the inspiration came largely from his friendship with William
Wordsworth. During these two years the poets lived near each other in
the beautiful Cumberland country, and while taking long rambles over
the Quantock Hills they talked, planned, and wrote.
Pages:
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96