Kubla Khan A Fragment Poem Analysis

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“Art for art’s sake” originated from an old French slogan hundreds of years ago, but it has held true for many of the world’s most prominent poets (Landow). “Kubla Khan: or, A Vision in a Dream. A Fragment” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge exemplifies this principle. Its 54 lines are bursting with numerous literary techniques and styles that continually sway between manmade establishments and the wilderness, resulting in a visionary, dreamy environment for the reader. Coleridge utilizes a changing rhythm, frequent repetitions, intense imagery, and several contrasts to reveal a theme centered about poetic creativity and the relationship between humanity and nature. Prior to diving into the text, some background information is required to grasp the
Kubla Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, is set as the initial character. He was the emperor of the Mongols in China during the thirteenth century A.D., and symbolized vast riches and secrecy to most Europeans (Kublai). The description in line two unifies him to that subject – “stately pleasure” evokes images of luxury, splendor, and magnificence. Line three introduces a river, Alph, which does not exist in reality; some scholars believe it refers to Alpheus, a river in Greece. Others believe it references the first letter of the Greek alphabet, Alpha, meaning the beginning (Kubla). This writer finds the latter to be the most logical interpretation, because of how the river then flows to the caverns and sea. The choice of the adjective “sacred” to describe the river implies that it may symbolize life. Lines four and five make a sharp turn towards darkness. Measureless caverns and “sunless sea” provides a contrast from the glorious kingdom Kubla Khan was building just two lines above. This is the first of many examples in which Coleridge evaluates the relationship between artificial establishments of humans and the primitive wilderness. Finally, note the alliteration at the end of each of the first five lines: “Kubla Khan”, “dome decree”, “river, ran”, “measureless to man”, and “sunless sea” help to reinforce the beauty of poetry. The smooth, flowing nature of these lines in iambic tetrameter is
A reflection of the first thirty lines seems to take place, with a scrambling of all the ideas articulated so far into one body. The word “shadow” is especially critical here, as it is not just the pleasure dome being discussed, but its concept. Coleridge seems to imply that when nature and human organization are blended together, the product of the “mingled measure” is something met “midway”, something with aspects of both chaos and control. It then can be deduced that nature and man are capable of living in harmony, though the former will always endure longer than the latter (Kubla). Lines thirty-five and thirty-six support this; they are still in stanza two, but are not indented. This is done purposely in order to serve as a reaction to the previous reflection, essentially stating that this revelation was a creative achievement, but that the harmony will be broken

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