British literature Among Wordsworth's most important poems, are "Michael", "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey", "Resolution and Independence", "" and the long, autobiographical, epic "The Prelude". Robert Southey (1774–1843) was another of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843. Although his fame has been long eclipsed by that of his contemporaries and friends William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Thomas De Quincey (1785–1859) was an English essayist, best known for his "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater" (1821), an autobiographical account of his laudanum and its effect on his life. The
To William Wordsworth Coleridge. In response, Coleridge wrote "To William Wordsworth", in January 1807, to capture his positive feelings about his friend's poem. "The Prelude" was in a five book form by 1804 when Coleridge first read the work, but the version Wordsworth read was a much expanded version that was new to him. Wordsworth read the poem in hopes that Coleridge would be put in a better mood and that Coleridge would help Wordsworth work on "The Recluse". Portions of the poem were printed in the "Friend" in 1809, but Wordsworth did not wish it to be published because of the private