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Dead in Life: An Analysis of Coleridge’s “The Pains of Sleep” and “Epitaph” from a Recovered
Addict’s Perspective with Attention Paid to Opiate use in Late 18th- and Early 19th-Century
England
David Rainey
Samuel Taylor Coleridge is one of the most celebrated authors of the Romantic era. With

works like “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” he has affected not only subsequent literary
works but also culture in general for centuries now. More than just a disseminator of innovative
ideas, Coleridge also became a poster boy for the sudden realization of drug abuse in the era. Use
of opiates and alcohol was already widespread in 18th-century England. Gin and laudanum
permeated all social classes. The numerous capabilities of opiates were touted by many,
especially medical professionals, as the abysmal state of drinking water fostered alcohol
consumption. Unlike alcohol, whose negative side effects were easily apparent, opiates seemed
for all the world a wonder drug. Readily available and reasonably priced, opiates were
administered for all sorts of reasons, even to children:

The young ’uns all lay about the floor . . . like dead ’uns, and there's no bother with ’em.
When they cry we give ’em a little of it—p’raps half spoonful, and that quiets ’em,
sometimes where they're hungry, and the victuals isn't ready for ’em, we give ’em a drop
too (Berridge 280).
Opiates were also used, and some might argue still are, to help expedite departure to the afterlife.
There are accounts as late as 1962 of the ill and elderly refusing medicine due to witnessing
people dispatched in that manner (Berridge 280).
With the rise of Coleridge’s work, much of which was clearly tinted by his addiction, a
conversation was struck that, eventually, illuminated the state of opiate use in the country. This

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