Tracing the Roots of Trauma: Exploring Coleridge's Personal Life Through His Literary Narratives

Abstract

This paper explores the intricate relationship between Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s traumas and their literary expression in his poetry, focusing on how his lived experiences of emotional and psychological suffering permeate his poetic narratives. Drawing upon trauma theory and biographical criticism, the study investigates how key works such as The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Dejection: An Ode, and Frost at Midnight embody fragmented memory, existential despair, and the compulsive return to haunting experiences—hallmarks of traumatic expression. Coleridge’s life, marked by early childhood loss, isolation, opium addiction, and creative frustration, serves as the backdrop for a deeper understanding of his poetic imagination. Through close textual analysis and contextual insights, the paper argues that Coleridge’s poetry functions as a site of both suffering and attempted healing, revealing the dual role of literature as a record of pain and a means of coping with it. By reading Coleridge through the lens of trauma, this study contributes to a richer understanding of Romantic literature’s psychological depth. It offers a nuanced interpretation of the poet’s inner life as refracted through his creative work. The paper ultimately highlights the capacity of literature to bear witness to the unseen wounds of the self.