Ernest Hartley Coleridge

Who was Ernest Hartley Coleridge?

Ernest Hartley Coleridge was a British literary scholar and poet. He was son of Derwent Coleridge and grandson of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He did scholarly work on his grandfather’s manuscripts, being the last of the Coleridges involved in their editing. He also took part in the campaign to buy the Coleridge Cottage in Nether Stowey for the nation. He provided this epitaph

Stranger, beneath this roof in byegone days

Dwelt Coleridge. Here he sang his witching lays

Of that strange Mariner, and what befel,

In mystic hour, the Lady Christabel.

And here, what time the Summer’s breeze blew free,

Came Lamb, the gentle-hearted child of glee;

Here Wordsworth came, and wild-eyed Dorothy!

Now, all is silent but the taper light,

Which, from these Cottage windows shone at night,

Hath streamed afar. To these great souls was given

A double portion of the light of Heaven.