Poetry, painting, and marriage (1798–1812) "First Acquaintance with Poets" On 14 January 1798, Hazlitt, in what was to prove a turning point in his life, encountered Coleridge as the latter preached at the Unitarian chapel in Shrewsbury. A minister at the time, Coleridge had as yet none of the fame that would later accrue to him as a poet, critic, and philosopher. Hazlitt, like Thomas de Quincey and many others afterwards, was swept off his feet by Coleridge's dazzlingly erudite eloquence.Holmes 1999, p. 100. Holmes 1989, pp. 178–79. Barker, p. 211. "I could not have been more delighted if I had heard the music of the spheres", he wrote years later in his essay "My First Acquaintance with Poets".Works, vol. 17, p. 108. It was, he added, as if "Poetry and Philosophy had met together. Truth and Genius had embraced, under the eye and with the sanction of Religion." Long after they had parted ways, Hazlitt would speak of Coleridge as "the only person I ever knew who answered to the idea of a man of genius"."On the Living Poets", concluding his 1818 "Lectures on the English Poets", Works, vol. 5, p. 167. That Hazlitt learned to express his thoughts "in motley imagery or quaint allusion", that his understanding "ever found a language to express itself," was, he openly acknowledged, something he owed to Coleridge."My First Acquaintance with Poets", Works, vol. 17, p. 107. For his part, Coleridge showed an interest in the younger man's germinating philosophical ideas, and offered encouragement.
Poetry painting, and marriage (1798–1812) "First Acquaintance with Poets" On 14 January 1798, Hazlitt, in what was to prove a turning point in his life, encountered Coleridge as the latter preached at the Unitarian chapel in Shrewsbury. A minister at the time, Coleridge had as yet none of the fame that would later accrue to him as a poet, critic, and philosopher. Hazlitt, like Thomas de Quincey and many others afterwards, was swept off his feet by Coleridge's dazzlingly erudite eloquence.Holmes 1999, p. 100. Holmes 1989, pp. 178–79. Barker, p. 211. "I could not have been more delighted if I had heard the music of the spheres", he wrote years later in his essay "My First Acquaintance with Poets".Works, vol. 17, p. 108. It was, he added, as if "Poetry and Philosophy had met together. Truth and Genius had embraced, under the eye and with the sanction of Religion." Long after they had parted ways, Hazlitt would speak of Coleridge as "the only person I ever knew who answered to the idea of a man of genius"."On the Living Poets", concluding his 1818 "Lectures on the English Poets", Works, vol. 5, p. 167. That Hazlitt learned to express his thoughts "in motley imagery or quaint allusion", that his understanding "ever found a language to express itself," was he openly acknowledged, something he owed to Coleridge."My First Acquaintance with Poets", Works, vol. 17 p. 107. For his part, Coleridge showed an interest in the younger man's germinating philosophical ideas, and offered encouragement.