Metrical Feet
1806

Trochee trips from long to short;
From long to long in solemn sort
Slow Spondee stalks, strong foot!, yet ill able
Ever to come up with Dactyl’s trisyllable.
Iambics march from short to long.
With a leap and a bound the swift Anapests throng.
One syllable long, with one short at each side,
Amphibrachys hastes with a stately stride —
First and last being long, middle short, Amphimacer
Strikes his thundering hoofs like a proud high-bred Racer.

If Derwent be innocent, steady, and wise,
And delight in the things of earth, water, and skies;
Tender warmth at his heart, with these meters to show it,
WIth sound sense in his brains, may make Derwent a poet —
May crown him with fame, and must win him the love
Of his father on earth and his father above.
My dear, dear child!
Could you stand upon Skiddaw, you would not from its whole ridge
See a man who so loves you as your fond S.T. Colerige

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Born: 21 October 1772, Ottery Saint Mary, UK
Nationality: English
Died: 25 July 1834, London, UK

Coleridge was a poet, philosopher, literary critic, and theologian who was, along with William Wordsworth, a founder of the English Romantic Movement and a member of the Lake Poets. He also collaborated with Charles Lamb, Robert Southey, and Charles Lloyd. He is best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan. Coleridge suffered crippling bouts of anxiety and depression throughout his adult life, and speculation suggest he had bipolar disorder which had not been defined in his lifetime. As a child he suffered from a number of illnesses which led to his poor health as an adult. He was treated with laudanum which led to a lifelong addiction to opium