Sound and Sense in "Kubla Kahn"

BibliographyAsbee, S. (2006) Approaching Poetry, Milton Keynes, The Open UniversityReid, N. (2006) Coleridge, Form and Symbol, Or the Ascertaining Vision, Aldershot, Ashgate PublishingWellek, R. (1963) The Concept of Romanticism in literary historyin Bygrave, S (2006) Romantic Writings London, The Open UniversityZuk, E. Coleridges Blank Verse [online], http://www.expansivepoetryonline.com/journal/cult072004.html (Accessed 28th April 2008)

As for the meter, it reminds Iambic Pentameter. Though, the conventional rhythm is broken by the author’s punctuation (exclamation points and commas as well as periods and dashes). Due to this device the poem comes closer to prose and sounds conversational. It was probably used to avoid song music mood and to give as much contrast as possible to the heroic poems of other authors like Richard Lovelace. If in Lovelace’s case the poem is to inspire the reader, in Owen’s work the rhythm is like a war, like death itself – hard, stumbling, hopeless, fumbling, and full of suffer. The reader suffers while overcoming all those hyphens and points inside lines. In this way, the two poems are on the opposite sides by their inner and outer sense.

Poetry has a role in society, not only to serve as part of the aesthetics or of the arts. It also gives us a view of what the society is in the context of when it was written and what the author is trying to express through words. The words as a tool in poetry may seem ordinary when used in ordinary circumstance. Yet, these words can hold more emotion and thought, however brief it was presented.

In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by

In the 1798 text, the margins are indented every other line. I believe that Coleridge did this to keep the poem flowing. It looks different to somebody who is reading it. It looks more scholarly and old fashion. It almost seems, when a person is reading it, that the poem is being read to a rhythm. In the 1817 text the entire poem is moved over to the left margin. There are no indentations like in the 1798 text. I think that Coleridge possible changed the format of the poem, again, to a more modern format. The new format in the text makes the poem look more neat, and

At the end of chapter 20 in Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria, Coleridge describes his own experience with poetry and its effect on others’ imagination from an outsiders point of view:

Coleridge’s ‘This Lime Tree Bower My Prison’, is a poem describing a man’s changing views as he contemplates the natural word which he has been prevented from seeing. Coleridge’s poem demonstrates the ability of individuals to modify their morals and values upon receiving a cathartic release from their relationship with nature, as predicated almost entirely on the imagination. Through allowing the persona to visualise the encounters his friends are making with nature along their journey, Coleridge first demonstrates the capabilities of the imagination in allowing us to picture things in certain detail, as shown through “now my friends emerge,” which in all exemplifies the presence of imagination in our relationship with nature. Furthermore, the description of their journey demonstrates the liberation received from engaging with nature, as shown where they “wander in gladness,” which relates to the cathartic release obtained from viewing nature that pushes us to reassess our ideas and perceptions. By showing his gradual change in tone, the influence of the persona’s imagination is shown, which when in conjunction with his exclamation of “yes!” reveals our emotional capabilities if becoming engulfed in our imaginations of nature. Also, by choosing to allow the persona to speak in a melodramatic tone, the poet is able to again explicitly demonstrate his

poem is not merely a static, decorative creation, but that it is an act of communication between the poet and

Such a situation warrants Coleridge the title of visionary, and therefore his poem becomes a vision: a Romantically textual utopia whose realisation was challenged by the rational status quo of its historical origin. Due to this, Coleridge’s work will always seek practical affirmation and will therefore constantly be the source of metaphysically-oriented debate, leaving the dualism that rules it to be decided by the reader and the ideologies he or she brings to the text. This conclusion is supported by the words of John Beer:

Throughout the beginning of the poem there are religious undertones Coleridge uses words like bended knee and reverential to highlight a religious belief and perhaps a plea to God to cure the “Pains of Sleep” this is interesting as he seems to feel “humbled” by the spirit presence. He mentions being weak but realises he is blest by this power. The religious undertone suggests to me a feeling of utter helplessness.

There are a myriad of critical theory lenses that can be applied and utilized to closely observe pieces of literature. One of these theories is John Keats’s Negative Capability theory which consists of an idea of “…when man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason…” (Keats 968). Ultimately, this signifies that in poetry the emphasis be placed on the significance of inquisitiveness and the asking of questions of the life and scenery around one’s self, rather than placing emphasis on strongly searching for these answers. This theory can be applied to a multitude of works, but for these sakes and purposes what will be critiqued is Samuel Coleridge’s Kubla Khan. In a subtle

A new chapter in the history of English poetry opened with the publication of “Lyrical Ballads” which were the results of Wordsworth and Coleridge friendship after the revolution. They included two different kinds of poetry in these ballets. Wordsworth talked about the subjects that were chosen from ordinary life and he

Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan” is a bright example of the transforming power imagination has. The poet’s usage of diction and allegories transform this poem into a symbol for imagination. It is said that it was written after Coleridge’s encounter with the sublime while still being under the effect of opium, and when he went to record it, he was disrupted by a visitor and the remaining of the poem was lost even to him. In the poem he shows how possibilities are limitless as long as our imaginations are; Coleridge uses “caverns measureless to man” as a

Samuel Taylor Coleridge uses nature as a catalyst to search deeper into his mind and discover the surreal creativity of his own imagination. "This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison" depicts an out-of-body vision that encompasses a breathtaking vista of green mountains and purple flowers from the eyes of an imaginer. Gazing at it "with swimming sense," the picture becomes "less gross than bodily," causing the swirling colors to form something only found in the divine. However surreal this picture is, nothing can compare to Cloleridge's vision in "Kubla Khan." In this poem he uses nature's creations to depict unnatural scenes. In "caverns measureless to man," Kubla Khan wants to build a "sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice." Such a place is only real in the imagination and in the written word, which is why this poem seems so tangible to the eye. He comes across these imaginary visions while "meandering with a mazy motion through wood and dale," where these thoughts come alive. It explains through alliteration how walking through wooded paths, accompanied only by one's mind, one comes upon new feelings and thoughts that are only palpable in that wood. Nature inspires Samuel Coleridge to exorcise his mind's eye and create a heavenly atmosphere.

Structurally the poem is a ballad written in twelve quatrains. Keats wrote the poem with the intention of it being read as opposed to sung (Cummings). The first three lines of each quatrain are written in iambic tetrameter, while the fourth varies between iambic dimeter and