In Xanadu. Or, a vision in a dream. A Fragment. Quiz

Answer:

Englishman Samuel Taylor Coleridge was the son of a parson in Ottery St. Mary, Devon. His father died when Samuel was six. An introverted child, he developed the love of reading early, especially for such classics as Robinson Crusoe, and Arabian Nights. He attended Cambridge University and here developed his interest in poetry and philosophy, which he believed complemented each other. He was awarded the Browne Gold medal for an ode on the slave trade.

Friends with Wordsworth, he was known primarily as a romantic poet, active in the late 18th century. He was 25 when he wrote 'Kubla Khan' and contended that this particular poem was inspired by an opium-influenced dream, in which he envisioned the summer palace of Mongol ruler (and Chinese emperor) Kubla Khan. It is thought that some of the poem reflected the depression he suffered because of his addiction to the opium he used as a painkiller against the neuralgia and rheumatism he suffered:
"Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide wide sea!
And never a saint took pity on
My soul in agony."
(Part IV, st. 3)

Coleridge wrote other famous poems, such as 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' and 'Christabel', and was the author of dozens of other lesser-known works. He also became known as an expert on Shakespeare. He had a stint in the army, but was not suited to the life and was discharged. He had one failed and one happy marriage but ended his life living in the household of his physician, who helped him overcome his opium addiction. He died in Highgate, London, on July 25, 1834.