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Kubla Khan;
A Vision in a Dream

“Kubla Khan” is a poem that stresses the beauty of creation and all that is beautiful among nature. It is based on a vision from a dream. It is more than just a vision, for he dreamt the words to the entire poem. Unfortunately, he could remember only a small part when he awakened, and had to work from that. Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an opium addict and his habit was the source of his strange and sometimes frightening dreams. Although his habit was indecorous, the outcome was ironically remarkable. This poem is very indicative as there are multiple meanings and everything depends on personal interpretation. “Kubla Khan” is a poem that is bursting with vivid imagery and irony that helps the reader appreciate what Samuel Taylor Coleridge is implying.

Xanadu is a man-made paradise that was built by a man named Kubla Khan to block out the “harsh realities” of nature. Kubla Khan feared the wrath of nature and tried his best to create “a stately pleasure-dome” where nothing could harm him. This entire poem is about a struggle against nature. In Stanza 1, it says “Through caverns measureless to man, down to a sunless sea,” and it goes on to say in Stanza 3, “With Walls and Towers were girdled around.” This means that there are walls guarding the insides from the perilous savage land outside. This paradise is very ostentatious as it is built for the struggle against nature, but it cannot overcome nature’s power until there is finally a “leak” and the “dangers” of nature begin to seep in. In Stanza 3 Coleridge describes nature as something gross and scary, “By woman wailing for her demon-lover!” This statement is not about a man but instead about how harsh and dangerous the outside world is. In contrast to the palace and its planned gardens, the space outside Kubla's sphere is characterized by ancient forests and rivers, providing a magnificent environment to Kubla's creation. It initially appears...