Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
Being unfinished hasn't prevented "Christabel" from inspiring off-Broadway plays. Many of them are abysmal failures—probably because no one knows how to end it. (Source)
Coleridge's father thought he'd be a great priest. Apparently, the younger Coleridge agreed and took on an appointment as a Unitarian minister at a chapel in the village of Shrewsbury in 1797. (Source)
Politics and law were one of Coleridge's passions before he really found his place in poetry. In fact, the Coleridge family remains important in both disciplines since Samuel Taylor Coleridge's nephew grew up to be a barrister and a judge, as did the son and grandson of that same nephew. All three became important figures in the development of Victorian law. (Source)
In 2006, the Coleridge family home and much of its contents were auctioned off by the current Lord Coleridge, who cited financial reasons. The house itself sold for £1.5m (that's nearly 2.3 million in American dollars), and a portrait of Samuel Taylor Coleridge sold for £38,4000 (a little over $58,000 U.S.). (Source)
The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge should not be confused with Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, a British-Creole composer best known for a composition called Hiawatha's Wedding Feast (which itself was inspired by a poem). (Source)