The Friendship: Wordsworth and Coleridge

The extraordinary story of the legendary friendship ndash; and quarrel ndash; between Wordsworth and Coleridge, two giants of English Romanticism. Wordsworth and Coleridge's passionate intimacy, shared ambition and subsequent estrangement contribute to a tragic tale. Sisman's wonderful biography of this most remarkable friendship seeks to re-examine the orthodox assumption that these two poets flourished as a result of their relationship. He argues that it was a meeting that may well have been disastrous for both: that it was Wordsworth's rejection of him, and not primarily his opium addiction that destroyed Coleridge as a poet, and that Coleridge's impossible ambitions for Wordsworth pushed the latter towards failure and disappointment. Underlying the poignancy of the tale is the intriguing subject of the influence one writer can have on another. Sisman seeks to answer fundamental questions about this relationship: why was Wordsworth so reliant on Coleridge, and why was he so easily swayed in the most critical decision of his career? Was it in Coleridge's nature to play second fiddle? Would it, in fact, have been better for both men if they had never met? Sisman writes the story of their frienship in all its aspects in order to provide a clearer picture of the effect they had on each other, thereby illuminating the very process of creation. He examines too, the neglected subject of male friendship itself, and draws out the shared ambition of these two charismatic figures: to write poems that would change the world.