The unifying thrust of the book is an exploration of the tension in Coleridge's theory and practice between the Imagination and the Natural, and a delineation of the particular profile of Coleridge's imagination as compared to that of Wordsworth. There are challenging reassessments of Dejection: an Ode, Christabel and Kubla Khan, among other poems; a cluster of essays on the relations between Coleridge and Wordsworth; a strikingly original examination of Coleridge's imagination at work in the privacy of his notebooks; and an intriguing study of the neglected imagination of Mrs Coleridge. The volume opens and closes with major statements by Jonathan Wordsworth on Coleridge's primary imagination and by John Beer on Kubla Khan, and includes work by such eminent scholars as Thomas MacFarland, David Erdman, Norman Fruman, Robert Barth, Anthony Harding, and Stephen Parrish.

The unifying thrust of the book is an exploration of the tension in Coleridge’s theory and practice between the Imagination and the Natural, and a delineation of the particular profile of Coleridge’s imagination as compared to that of Wordsworth. There are challenging reassessments of Dejection: an Ode, Christabel and Kubla Khan, among other poems; a cluster of essays on the relations between Coleridge and Wordsworth; a strikingly original examination of Coleridge’s imagination at work in the privacy of his notebooks; and an intriguing study of the neglected imagination of Mrs Coleridge. It contains major statements by Jonathan Wordsworth on Coleridge’s primary imagination and by John Beer on Kubla Khan.

Pete Laver: a memoir; Abbreviations; Introduction; 1. Romantic imagination, nature and the pastoral ideal Thomas McFarland; 2. 'The infinite I AM': Coleridge and the Ascent of being Jonathan Wordsworth; 3. Struggling with the contingent: self-conscious imagination in Coleridge's notebooks Kristine Dugas; 4. Coleridge's rejection of nature and the natural man Norman Fruman; 5. The imagination of Mrs Samuel Taylor Coleridge: unknown inspiration of an unknown tongue Molly Lefebure; 6. 'As much diversity as the heart that trembles': Coleridge's notes on the lakeland fells William Ruddick; 7. 'Leaping and lingering': Coleridge's lyrical ballads Stephen Parrish; 8. 'Radical difference': Coleridge and Wordsworth, 1802 Lucy Newlyn; 9. Imagining Wordsworth: 1797-1807-1817 Richard Gravil; 10. The Otway connection David V. Erdman; 11. Imagining Robespierre Nicholas Roe; 12. Coleridge's Dejection: imagination, joy and the power of love J. Robert Barth S. J.; 13. Imagining naming shaping: stanza VI of Dejection: an Ode Peter Larkin; 14. Mythopoesis: the unity of Christabel Anthony John Harding; 15. The languages of Kubla Khan John Beer; Notes on the contributors; Index.