Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834) 1805 - 1806

Editor: Here we have Washington Allston’s drawing of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It’s… striking! The intensity in his eyes is almost unsettling. What do you see in this portrait? Curator: I sense Allston capturing Coleridge's inner world—a turbulent landscape of genius and melancholy. The soft shading hints at a vulnerable soul wrestling with profound ideas. Do you get a sense of the romantic era, perhaps, a feeling of intense emotion? Editor: I think so. There is a sense of longing in his expression. Curator: Exactly. And that unfinished quality, the torn edge of the paper, it's like a fragment of a larger story, hinting at the fleeting nature of inspiration. Editor: It certainly makes you wonder what Coleridge was thinking at that moment. Curator: Indeed!