Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Essay - 1147 Words

â€Å"Kubla Khan† by Samuel Taylor Coleridge â€Å"Kubla Khan† by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a poem about the creative powers of the poetic mind. Through the use of vivid imagery Coleridge reproduces a paradise-like vision of the landscape and kingdom created by Kubla Khan. The poem changes to the 1st person narrative and the speaker then attempts to recreate a vision he saw. Through the description of the visions of Kubla Khan’s palace and the speaker’s visions the poem tells of the creation of an enchanting beautiful world as the result of power of human imagination. The second part of the poem reveals that although the mind has the ability to create this paradise-like world it is tragically unable to sustain this world. It is†¦show more content†¦By describing the dome as a â€Å"pleasure dome† the poet presents Khan’s kingdom as paradise-like. This paradise-kingdom consists of ten miles of â€Å"fertile ground† surrounded securely by walls that are â€Å"girdled† around. Its gardens are bright, and â€Å"blossoming with many an incense bearing tree† and are watered by wandering streams. The location of the palace is important, it is built â€Å"where Alph, the sacred river, ran.† The name Alph is an allusion to the mythical Greek river that flows under ground and rises in fountains. The river is described as sacred because it brings life through it’s â€Å"sinuous rills† in the garden of the pleasure dome. With out the existence of the river the â€Å"pleasure dome† could not exist. The river, the sacred thing that gives life to Khan’s creation runs â€Å"through caverns measureless to man/down to a sunless sea†. The destination of the sacred river of the pleasure dome is â€Å"measureless† or inconceivable to man. The river metaphorically represents nature as the source of life of all mans creation. As men cannot measure these caverns, the poet can not completely comprehend the power and dimension of natures influence on poetry but is dependant on it. In the second stanza the poem shifts focus from the perfect â€Å"pleasure dome† created by â€Å"Kubla Khan† to the tumultuous landscape that surrounds it. The â€Å"sunny spots of greenery† in Khan’s realm in the first stanza are interrupted with the exclamation of â€Å"But Oh!† and the reader isShow MoreRelated Analysis of Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Essay451 Words   |  2 PagesAnalysis of Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge reveals the power of the imaginative poetry. This poetry has the ability to create kingdoms and paradise. In this poem Coleridge is expressing heaven and hell through his own eyes just as the aplostles did in the ?Bible? and Milton did in Paradise Lost. The poem begins with a mythical tone, ?In Xanadu did Kubla Khan/ A stately pleasure dome decree.? 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But the devices that Coleridge used to create â€Å"Kubla Khan† is at the very least what makes this poem provocative; Coleridge’s opium induced vision and utopian ideals combined with his literaryRead Moreâ€Å"Kubla Khan:† A Description of Earthly Paradise Essay example1998 Words   |  8 Pages â€Å"Kubla Khan† by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is said to be â€Å"one of the best remembered works of the Romantic period,† (Gray) and though this poem may seem speak deeply about the world, its conception was fairly simple: Coleridge had been reading a book about Kubla Khan in Xanadu (by a man named Samuel Purchas) before falling into a deep sleep induced by an opium mixture to which he had long since had an addiction. When he awoke from this drug induced stupor, he had apparently 200 to 300 lines of Read MoreSound and Sense in Kubla Kahn816 Words   |  3 PagesIn his attempt to explore the definition of the poem, Samuel Taylor Coleridge concludes that a poem is distinguished from the works of science by, Proposing for its immediate object pleasure, not truth. The recent denotation of pleasure to solely sensual enjoyment makes his definition seem a subjective belief. However, by pleasure, Coleridge means recognition of, The beauty of the universe, to borrow Wordsworths words, and gives it a metaphysical layer (Gilpin.) Coleridges second clauseRead MoreKubla Khan: A Dream, or Something Greater Essay2208 Words   |  9 Pagesaccurately, but write from recollection, and trust more to the imagination than the memory.† Coleridge followed his own advice in the crafting of Kubla Khan; which presents his interpretation of the Kubla Khan court when under the influence of opiates. Due to the complexity of the poem, many have found that the poem lacks a true theme but instead focu ses on â€Å"the nature and dialectical process of poetic creation.† Coleridge created a masterpiece by providing the readers room for personal interpretation butRead More Poetic Inspiration in Kubla Khan and Rime of the Ancient Mariner2238 Words   |  9 PagesPoetic Inspiration in Kubla Khan and Rime of the Ancient Mariner      Ã‚  Ã‚   An examination of the characters that Coleridge presents in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan and the situations in which they find themselves reveals interesting aspects of Coleridges own character that are both similar to and different from the characters named in the titles of these poems. In particular, an examination of these characters with an eye toward Coleridges conception of poetic inspirationRead MoreKubla Khan Essay1578 Words   |  7 PagesIn the opening lines of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s paradoxical poem â€Å"Kubla Khan,† we see an approach to literacy that is far different than his predecessors. This is partly due to his role as one of the founders of the Romantic Era. Coleridge, along with William Wordsworth, published an anthology of poems entitled â€Å"Lyrical Ballads.† This collection was the beginning of an overwhelming movement to praise the power of imagination rather than that of reason. While â€Å"Kubla Khanà ¢â‚¬  was not a part of thisRead MoreKubla Khan -1289 Words   |  6 Pages#8220;Kubla Khan#8221; by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a poem about the creative powers of the poetic mind. Through the use of vivid imagery Coleridge reproduces a paradise-like vision of the landscape and kingdom created by Kubla Khan. The poem changes to the 1st person narrative and the speaker then attempts to recreate a vision he saw. Through the description of the visions of Kubla Khan#8217;s palace and the speaker#8217;s visions the poem tells of the creation of an enchanting beautifulRead MoreRomanticism was developed in the late 18th century and supported a shift from faith in reason to800 Words   |  4 Pageseffect on men. Therefore, the glory and beauty of nature and the power of the natural world was accentuated commonly. The topic â€Å"nature† has been developed in many important novels and poems including Mary Shelley’s â€Å"Frankenstein† and Samuel Taylor Coleridgeâ €™s â€Å"Kubla Khan†. Romantic writers like Mary Shelley portrayed nature as the greatest and the most perfect force in the universe. They used words like â€Å"sublime† to convey the flawlessness and the power of the nature world. For example, Mary Shelley