How did German scholarship influence Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s later work?

Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s exposure to German scholarship during his 1798–99 visit to Germany significantly shaped his later intellectual and critical output. By attending lectures on physiology and biblical criticism at Göttingen, he gained access to developments that were largely unknown in England at the time.1

This influence is most evident in his later work across several areas:

• Literary Criticism: Coleridge was deeply influenced by the ideas of August Wilhelm von Schlegel, particularly his Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature. Schlegel’s theories helped Coleridge move away from "mechanical" Neoclassical rules toward an appreciation for "organic" form, which he applied to his influential psychological interpretations of William Shakespeare’s characters.23
• Intellectual Synthesis: Following his return from Germany, Coleridge increasingly focused on the relationship between the human psyche and the subtler forces of nature. This interest informed his later writings in literary criticism, theology, and philosophy, where he sought to reconcile intuitive, non-rational understanding with organized, discriminating thought.34
• Theoretical Development: These German-inspired studies contributed to the unique synthesis of philosophy and criticism found in his Biographia Literaria (1817), which remains a foundational text in literary theory.34