Endowed with an intellect of the first order

and an imagination at once delicate and splendid, Coleidge, from a weakness of moral constitution and his lamentable habit, fell far short of the performance which he had planned, and which included various epic poems, and a complete system of philosophy, in which all knowledge was to be co-ordinated.

He has, however, left enough poetry of such excellence as to place him in the first rank of English poets. This edition includes his masterpieces, in the first rank his "Rime of the Ancient Mariner."