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motion” (23). As close as the lines of prose seemingly place Coleridge to a solution for his
troubles, in the end, self-deception rears its head to deny him possible lasting relief. The next to
final line declares his personal answer to the problems so richly described throughout the poem.
“To be beloved is all I need” seems to be his solution (51). Whether he means by the world at
large, which by all accounts seems to have cherished him a good deal, or some individual
romance, one can only muse. It is unclear if Coleridge’s idea would have worked. Doubtless, he
either never achieved it or, more likely, it was unsuccessful. There is a solution that has been
shown to achieve lasting results, and it has been described as follows: “The great fact is just this,
and nothing less: That we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences which have
revolutionized our whole attitude toward life, toward our fellows and toward God’s universe.”
(Alcoholics 25).

Clearly, drug use in the time was not only widespread, it was also commonplace. All over
the country, people could be found partaking in whatever substance they found needful or
desirable. The abuses that accompanied this cultural acceptance might have endured unremarked
if not for the publications of De Quincey shining a light upon himself and, possibly more
importantly, Coleridge. People consumed the works produced under the influence of opiate drugs
with fervor. Fascination for these wildly imaginative publications, and Coleridge himself,
sparked imitation that manufactured an entire era of writers such as Byron and Shelly. A look at
the works themselves, by anyone with an eye to see, reveals an addicted and tortured man.
Suffering under the countless character flaws that consume anyone with addiction, Coleridge
transcribed these symptoms within numerous pieces of poetry and prose. As such, Coleridge’s
affliction rooted itself inexorably into the body of work he left behind. One could say his highly
visible image in the period glorified his ailment and helped spread it to others, bringing pain and

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