Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Kubla Khan
Synopsis
Kubla Khan firstly begins by introducing Xanadu (the name of the place) and Kubla Khan (main character who's land this seems to be) then the setting is described in full detail starting from the 'pleasure dome', to the size of the land ,and then to the gardens. Each aspect of Xanadu which is described in the first stanza simply shows the pure beauty of this 'sacred' place. However, suddenly, the scene changes in the second stanza and the setting is taken down to a 'savage' cave within lies a woman wailing for her demon lover, and from this the description of the setting and land changes, the river becomes rushed and forced with rocks dancing of it this sudden motion in change is to match the woman's painful emotions. In the last stanza, the scene changes to become relaxed as evening seems to fall on Xanadu the scene in the dome is described and a damsel is said to be playing an instrument, this seems to be joyful and a delight, but seems to awaken something/someone, possible Kubla Khan, which changes the atmosphere and describes his flashing eyes and floating hair all of which seems to be an image that becomes a nightmare, or a dream been woken up.
Bibliography context - What was found out about the poets life that influenced the writing
Samuel Taylor Coleridge suffered through an addiction to laudanum and opium, and Kubla Khan was said to be created whilst he was under the influence of this drug. Coleridge had fallen asleep after taking an anodyne, before falling asleep, he had been reading a story in which Kubla Khan commanded the building of a new palace; Coleridge claims that while he slept, he had a "vision" in which all the images rose up before him as a dream in the form of a poem.Waking after a few hours, he got a pen and began writing about what he had just dreamed, however, after copying down the first three stanzas of his dreamt poem, he was interrupted by a “person on business from Porlock,” who he spoke with. After this interruption, he was unable to recall the rest of the vision or the poetry he had seen in his opium dream the same way that a reflection in a stream is rippled when a stone is thrown in.. It's said that the final stanza of the poem, the idea of the lost vision through the figure of the “damsel with a dulcimer” and the milk of Paradise, was written post-interruption. The mysterious person from Porlock is one of the most notorious figures in Coleridge’s biography; nobody knows of him or about him, but this person has become a metaphor for the malicious interruptions the world throws in the way of inspiration and genius, and “Kubla Khan,” strange and ambiguous as it is, has become a statement of the obstruction visionary genius.
Historical Context - What was happening during the time the poem was written and how has it affected the poetry ideas within them?
Kubla Khan was written in 1797, however was not published until 1816. Samuel Coleridge was an important literary critic who helped to popularise the Romantic Movement. The Romantic Movement emerged in reaction to the Enlightenment's philosophy and values, the Enlightenment held the belief that there are universal truths ,and in visioned an orderly universe along with using reason as a guide to everyday living. In contrast, the Romantic movement focused on subjective views of reality, Romanticism was a world, not of things, but of images, not of laws, but of metaphors, and for them meaning was best found through the use of imagination. Kubla Khan serves as a Romantic counterargument to the Enlightenment, Kubla Khan's very form and message illustrates the Romantic principles.
The analysis of Kubla Khan shows that your not to focus on the correlation between Coleridge's images and the real world or simply dismiss the very poem as a fragmented dream, but instead focus on the meaning behind the images, but more on his meaning of the images. By understanding the images can you understand his underlining commentary on Romanticism and the deeper differences between the Romantic view and the Enlightenment's world. The central image held is the idea of the river it lies beneath the surface of the world, and it affects the Khan's world even before it erupts, the river is a fructifying force in the Khan's world, and is a symbol of the subconscious and of the profound meaning within the metaphor. As well as this, , the differences between the Enlightenment and the Romantic movement are shown by Coleridge's first stanza describing the setting of Xanadu. Kubla Khan believes himself to have bent nature to his will to create an earthy paradise, he's encompassed and enclosed the surface world to show his power. Like the Enlightenment he has engaged the world of visible things around him and thus thinks he has entered into accord with nature, but has taken what he can see for all that it is (accepted it at face value). When the river erupts into the world he has built and protected, the fountain disrupts his order and has caused violent chaos that is uncomprehending to him. Like the Enlightenment all must be orderly for Khan.
Coleridge goes even deeper in his commentary on Romantic principles. The poem is not about any real place, its reflecting the idea that we live in a world of images and not things the very subject of the poem is image, and Coleridge juxtaposes image upon image to emphasis this point. Coleridge experienced the poem as a vision and the poem itself is about that vision.
Coleridge's view from romanticism holds that art cannot be an imitation of a thing but only an image of a thing (shown lines 31-34), the eruption of the river absorbs within itself the likeness of the dome which ruptures the order and reason that Khan represents, this experiencing of the breaking of his rational world is subjected to the profound powers of the deep.
The poem is a collection of words which attempts to reproduce the power of the original vision, which in turn like the sacred river has erupted unbidden from the subconscious depths of the poets mind.
The analysis of Kubla Khan shows that your not to focus on the correlation between Coleridge's images and the real world or simply dismiss the very poem as a fragmented dream, but instead focus on the meaning behind the images, but more on his meaning of the images. By understanding the images can you understand his underlining commentary on Romanticism and the deeper differences between the Romantic view and the Enlightenment's world. The central image held is the idea of the river it lies beneath the surface of the world, and it affects the Khan's world even before it erupts, the river is a fructifying force in the Khan's world, and is a symbol of the subconscious and of the profound meaning within the metaphor. As well as this, , the differences between the Enlightenment and the Romantic movement are shown by Coleridge's first stanza describing the setting of Xanadu. Kubla Khan believes himself to have bent nature to his will to create an earthy paradise, he's encompassed and enclosed the surface world to show his power. Like the Enlightenment he has engaged the world of visible things around him and thus thinks he has entered into accord with nature, but has taken what he can see for all that it is (accepted it at face value). When the river erupts into the world he has built and protected, the fountain disrupts his order and has caused violent chaos that is uncomprehending to him. Like the Enlightenment all must be orderly for Khan.
Coleridge goes even deeper in his commentary on Romantic principles. The poem is not about any real place, its reflecting the idea that we live in a world of images and not things the very subject of the poem is image, and Coleridge juxtaposes image upon image to emphasis this point. Coleridge experienced the poem as a vision and the poem itself is about that vision.
Coleridge's view from romanticism holds that art cannot be an imitation of a thing but only an image of a thing (shown lines 31-34), the eruption of the river absorbs within itself the likeness of the dome which ruptures the order and reason that Khan represents, this experiencing of the breaking of his rational world is subjected to the profound powers of the deep.
The poem is a collection of words which attempts to reproduce the power of the original vision, which in turn like the sacred river has erupted unbidden from the subconscious depths of the poets mind.
Literary Context - How does the poem fit into the western canon? What has it influenced? Does it belong to a specific literary period? How does it follow the conventions of that movement? If so how? What are the conventions?
This poem pinpoints the main principle ideas that Romanticism holds, it celebrates nature and builds emotion as well as showing the powerful wonders of the imagination. Kubla Khan written during the time of the Romantic movement and the Enlightenment plays on those very ideas and from this faced
Themes and issues within the poems - What issues do the poems investigate and what themes are explored?
Delight in the Natural World (nature). Coleridge worshiped nature and recognised poetry's capacity to describe the beauty of the natural world. Kubla Khan doesn't necessarily directly deal with nature however derive symbols and images from nature, such as the "sacred river" that mysterious energy twists and turns to create a image of bold and greatness. We go from a "pleasure dome" to a "sacred river" then to measureless caves and firtle land
Dreams and dreaming in Kubla Khan communicate the power of imagination as the distinct separateness of the poem jumps from one thing to another fading and floating like a dream. Furthermore, Kubla Khan is subtitled "A Vision in a Dream" linking to the story that goes with the poem of him falling asleep and envisioning this poem and writing it down only to forget later the rest of the vision. Additionally, the poem seems to make us feel as though we are in an alternative reality, we recognize all the objects he describes, but the images he creates move in ways we don't expect people appear and disappear strangely, just like a dream or hallucination.
Themes of pleasure are experienced in Kubla Khan, the dome is referred to as "the pleasure dome" and "deep delight 'twould win me" in the first stanza the scene described sounds as if it is said pleasurably as the scene is beautifully laid, the last few lines of "honey-dew hath fed" and "the milk of paradise" together create a warm taste, mixed with the twisted idea of Kubla Khan.
Dreams and dreaming in Kubla Khan communicate the power of imagination as the distinct separateness of the poem jumps from one thing to another fading and floating like a dream. Furthermore, Kubla Khan is subtitled "A Vision in a Dream" linking to the story that goes with the poem of him falling asleep and envisioning this poem and writing it down only to forget later the rest of the vision. Additionally, the poem seems to make us feel as though we are in an alternative reality, we recognize all the objects he describes, but the images he creates move in ways we don't expect people appear and disappear strangely, just like a dream or hallucination.
Themes of pleasure are experienced in Kubla Khan, the dome is referred to as "the pleasure dome" and "deep delight 'twould win me" in the first stanza the scene described sounds as if it is said pleasurably as the scene is beautifully laid, the last few lines of "honey-dew hath fed" and "the milk of paradise" together create a warm taste, mixed with the twisted idea of Kubla Khan.
Character's Voice
The only voice that seems to be presented is the voice of Kubla Khan that is followed through the poem, it starts of strong and proud of the setting that seems to be an earthly paradise to Kubla Khan, and is his land that he created. Then the poem changes in the second stanza it becomes dark and the sudden change begins to twist like a nightmare, the "woman wailing for her demon lover" sounds ghostly and haunting that sends a chilling vibe through the poem. The change is also reflected in the river that becomes forced and heavy matching the woman's emotions that seem to juxtapose with the "damsel with a dulcimer" later on in the third stanza. The third stanza is said by Kubla Khan like a floating dream that starts of wonderful and pleasurable, but then changes at the end as Kubla Khan is described with his flashing eyes and hair that becomes like the end of a dream drifting away with the image of Kubla Khan.
What do I think of the poetry
I love this poem, I think the imagery created ,and the way it is presented with the twists and turns like a dream are really effective ,and create a captivating poem that is beautiful. It really fixates on natural images as well as the woman wailing for her lover and the damsel playing her instrument., but in the end all builds up to this final image of Kubla Khan in his greatness, with his piercing flashing eyes and hair that curl around him creating this strong, maybe even scary character that mixes in well with the twisted vision of this poem.