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Hong-sang YeoA major poet and critic of the first generation Romantics, S. T. Coleridge was a key figure in the development of modern ecological literature and criticism. Incorporating the ideas of the nineteenth-century German philosophy, he developed his own ecological thoughts, which had a great influence on American transcendentalism. However, few critics, except for M. H. Abrams, James McKusick, and Karl Kroeber, have paid a due attention to his seminal significance as an early ecological writer. Focusing on Coleridge’s poetry, these critics in their turn do not examine closely enough Coleridge’s prose works, which I believe are essential to understand properly his contribution to the development of early ecological criticism in both sides of the Atlantic. This study tries to investigate some of the major prose works of S. T. Coleridge in terms of his pioneering role as an early ecological critic. Focusing on selected prose works, this paper deals not only with Coleridge’s notions of genius, imagination, and organism, in connection to his theory of poet and poetry, but also with his theory of man, nature, culture, education, and ‘life’ in general. The conclusion discusses the legacy of Coleridge’s ecological vision in the broad context of Romantic poetry and modern ecological criticism.
