and sense-bound philosophy of
Bentham, Malthus, and Mill. We pass by Coleridge's _Aids to
Reflection_ (1825), the weightiest of his metaphysical productions, to
consider those works which possess a more vital interest for the
student of literature.

[Illustration: COLERIDGE AS A YOUNG MAN. _From a sketch made in
Germany_.]

His _Lectures on Shakespeare_, delivered in 1811, contained
epoch-making Shakespearean criticism. We are told that every
drawing-room in London discussed them. His greatest work on criticism
is entitled _Biographia Literaria_ (2 Vols., 1817). There are parts of
it which no careful student of the development of modern criticism can
afford to leave unread. The central point of this work is the
exposition of his theory of the romantic school of poetry. He thus
gives his own aim and that of Wordsworth in the composition of the
volume of poems, known as _Lyrical Ballads_:--

"...it was agreed that my endeavors should be directed to persons
and characters supernatural, or at least romantic; yet so as to
transfer from our inward nature a human interest and a semblance of
truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that
willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes
poetic faith.

Mr. Wordsworth, on the other hand, was to propose to himself as his
object, to give the charm of novelty to things of every day, and to
excite a feeling analogous to the supernatural by awakening the
mind's attention from the lethargy of custom, and directing it to
the loveliness and wonders of the world before us."[17]

Coleridge does not hold Wordsworth's belief that the language of
common speech and of poetry should be identical. He shows that
Wordsworth does better than follow his own theories. Yet, when he
considers both the excellencies and the defects of Wordsworth's verse,
Coleridge's verdict of praise is substantially that of the twentieth
century. This is an unusual triumph for a contemporary critic, sitting
in judgment on an author of an entirely new school and rendering a
decision in opposition to that of the majority, who, he says, "have
made it a business to attack and ridicule Mr. Wordsworth... His _fame_
belongs to another age and can neither be accelerated nor
retarded."[18]

GEORGE NOEL GORDON, LORD BYRON, 1788-1824

[Illustration: GEORGE NOEL GORDON, LORD BYRON. _From a portrait by
Kramer_.]

Life.--Byron was born in London in 1788. His father