'Few moments in life so interesting,' Coleridge noted, 'as those of an affectionate reception from those who have heard of you yet are strangers to your person.' The occasion was his meeting in the autumn of 1799 with the Hutchinson sisters - Mary, Sara and Joanna - at their brother Tom's Yorkshire farm. Coleridge laid himself out to charm them and succeeded. The middle sister, Sara, whom he would call Asra, to set her apart from his own wife Sara, became his prime female figure of worship and consolation. Mary was to have a long and tranquil married life with Wordsworth. Joanna continued to live with her brother Tom.

LRB 7 December 1989 | PDF Download