The Poem Kubla Khan Essay

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‘Kubla Khan’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a world-famous poem that many believe has romantic influence. Written in the summer of 1797, Coleridge, then in ill health, decided to retire to a farm house in the middle of Linton and Porlock, by himself. He had a profound sleep for several hours, to which came to him the lines that would turn in Kubla Khan’. Although due to some questioning by a person, he had a dim recollection of the images and lines, the still managed to write the poem from such inspiration. Because imagination, freedom, and feeling are focal points of Romanticism, it is something of note the origins of the poem because they help explain why ‘Kubla Khan’ has romantic elements. ‘Kubla Khan’ is a dream of a poet and uses Gothic and Romantic elements to provide the reader with a series of carnal and decadent delights that are best described through interpretation of perspective and show how romantic elements (feeling, freedom, and imagination) can be used to give an already surreal experience that much more individuality and surreal atmosphere.

The poem stars with the fancifully described capital of Kublai Khan’s capital, Xanadu, near the Alph river. This river is sacred, natural and exists amidst a human-made ‘pleasure’ land. The way Coleridge describes the river is important because this kind of description is unique compared to the rest of the poem. Specifically, there is a different rhythm.

· In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

· A stately pleasure-dome decree:

· Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

· Through caverns measureless to man

· Down to a sunless sea. (lines 1–5) (Coleridge)

Although Xanadu is best interpreted as a ‘walled Eden’, Coleridge tries to represent the same walled aspect to the caves where the river runs. Adding a layer of symmetry. The phrase ‘sinuous rills’ and ‘sunny spots of greenery’, allow the reader to feel the through the imagined senses what the place would be like if one were to visit it. As was said about Romanticism, the focus is on freedom, imagination, and emotion. While the walled aspect is confining, by using it with the caves and then having a river flow through these caves it gives a feeling of emotion, of freedom because of the water running through everything.

Water in Romanticism (Claude Monet Water Lillies) served as an expression of perspective.

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Instead of describing what is seen, one describes something based on what is felt and imagined. Because the poem came from this dream like state, the river running through the cave served as a depiction of imagination, rather than what Coleridge may have seen in nature. That is why it is so important to begin with these first lines as they set the stage for the Romanticism experienced by the reader through the rest of the poem.

Interestingly, Romanticism and Gothic went hand in hand. A good example of this would be, Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. The novel managed to evoke horror, but through interpretation of perspective, also masterfully combined elements of Romanticism like imagination and emotion. This is seen in the line 12 of ‘Kubla Khan’, ‘But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted’. Chasm automatically evokes darkness, death, doom. To look down a chasm is a frightening experience. Yet, the word before chasm is romantic, showing a literal description that helps marry Gothic and Romanticism like so many writers and painters did during this era.

The other lines severed to also provide that intermix of elements like ‘A savage place! As holy and enchanted’ to ‘waning moon’. If one recalls what a waning moon looks like it is pretty dark. It is a crescent moon just beginning to show light. Again, the Gothic with the Romantic aspects. If these lines do not show Romanticism, then line 16, ‘By woman wailing for her demon-lover!’ will truly convince even the most sceptic person. Love is romantic, this is natural and a demon-lover, is horrific, evil. To combine these two images shows the complexity of the narrative and effectively combining horror with romance.

As was said, Romanticism is imagination, emotion, and freedom. The chasm later in the poem is described as ‘with ceaseless turmoil seething’. This can be imagined as this angry, villainous ghoul, seething at the mouth with steam emitting from its eyes. At least this is the of imagery that is evoked from the line. When a line evokes such a resounding emotion from the reader, this can be seen….....

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