Short answers, pulled from the story.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born on the 21st of October 1772 in Ottery St Mary, a small town in Devon. His father served as the vicar of the local church and ran the King's School there.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge composed Kubla Khan after taking opium and falling into a deep reverie in 1797 while living at Coleridge Cottage in Nether Stowey, Somerset. He claimed to see a magnificent palace built by the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan at Xanadu during this dream state before waking to write down what he remembered.
A visitor arrived on business from Porlock who interrupted his creative flow and caused him to forget much of the visionary experience. Only fragments remained in his memory when he tried to reconstruct the full poem despite its unfinished nature becoming one of the most famous works of English literature.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge published The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in 1798 as part of Lyrical Ballads with William Wordsworth to tell the story of a sailor who shot an albatross and suffered terrible consequences for his action. The phrase water everywhere nor any drop to drink entered common usage because of this tale which introduced new ideas about guilt and redemption that resonated deeply with readers.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge died in 1834 after struggling with depression, anxiety, and poor physical health throughout his adult life. By 1804 he used up to two quarts of laudanum each week which damaged his relationships and required regular enemas due to severe constipation.
From 1810 to 1820 Samuel Taylor Coleridge delivered a series of lectures in London and Bristol about literature focusing heavily on William Shakespeare and Milton. A lecture given on the 2nd of January 1812 regarding Hamlet became particularly famous and rescued the play's reputation by analyzing its psychological depth and moral complexity.