Over the years, great writers have influenced literature in many ways, from Shakespeare to Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Coleridge was a revolutionary poet whose idea of ​​poetry remains the standard by which others in English are tested. He was responsible in particular for the new demanding German philosophy. His discussions of the imagination remain a component of institutional critique. Meanwhile his rare annotations on the language contributed to the development of Cambridge English in the 1920s. He is described as a literary critic, a psychologist of the imagination, a crucial theologian, and a conservative social philosopher. Coleridge's poems and other works placed him in a high position among major literary critics. His early life helped shape who he became as an adult. Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born on 21 October 1772 in the village of Ottery St. Mary in Devon. Coleridge's parents were Ann Bowdon Coleridge and John Coleridge. He was the youngest of fourteen children. Coleridge describes himself in vivid letters as having had a childhood of isolation and self-centeredness (Coleridge 1). Coleridge always seemed deeply interested in reading and grew up surrounded by books. His imagination was flourished by his father's stories of planets and stars (Coleridge 1). Coleridge was a lonely child and a changeling in his family. At nine years old he suffered the loss of his father to whom he was close and who loved Coleridge more than all children. After his father's death he attended Jesus College where he did not do very well. Coleridge left college early in debt and enlisted in Calvary (Bloom 1). As a young and poor poet, he was now completely interested in politics and religion. Religion in particular intervened and became large in Coleridge's life. He is... middle of the card... the gap between the internal and external worlds, the mind and physical reality. Despite all this, Coleridge proved an inspiration to the important generation that followed his. Coleridge influenced the way writers write today. The recent publication of his private notebooks has provided further evidence of the constant ferment and continuity of his inquiring spirit. Works CitedBloom, Harold, ed. Modern critical visions. Np: Chelsea House Publishers, ndEuropean Graduate School. Np, nd Web. March 4, 2014."Lyrical ballads." Lyrical ballads, with other poems. By William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Np:Poets. Academy of Poets, nd Web. 4 March 2014.Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Poetry Foundation, nd Web. 26 February 2014. Sisman, Adam. Friendship: Wordsworth and Coleridge. Np:The Last Romantics. Np, nd Web. April 1. 2014.