An Analysis of Kubla Khan
The poem "Kubla Khan" was written as Samuel Taylor Coleridge'sattempt to capture a dream he had, where in the dream he composed the mostperfect poem. Just as you tend to do with dreams, he woke believing thathe recalled the dream and the poem perfectly. He began to write the poem,but was then interrupted. When he returned to complete the poem, he foundthat he could only remember a sense of what was in the poem and could notcreate it. The poem itself then, is considered unfinished becauseColeridge was not able to capture everything he wanted to say. By notcompleting the poem, the reader is left with a similar sense to Coleridge'swhere something beautiful and meaningful is presented, but the meaning of The poem begins by creating a sense that something wonderful andimportant is being described, with it especially hinted that this relatesto the very basis of life. This is hinted at because of the references toancient times. For example, the river is described as "the sacred river"(3) and the forests are "ancient as the hills" (10). This separates t
To this point, it seemsthat Coleridge is describing a beautiful scene that represents where lifehas emerged from. Coleridge describes the river meandering and then"reaching the caverns measureless to man" (27) and sinking into "a lifelessocean" (28). And justas a dream fades and is lost, the meaning of the poem has been lost becauseColeridge never was able to complete it. He refers to the "damsel with a dulcimer" (37)he had a vision of once. In the third and final verse, Coleridge seems to be expressing howhis vision has been lost. He refers to the "sunny pleasure-domewith caves of ice" (36) from the beginning of the poem floating on the sea. Just as a dream fades, the meaning has been lost. The next line describes the river "fivemiles meandering with a mazy motion" (25). This can be considered as representing the beginnings of lifebecause water represents life. This suggests that the beauty of the past has survived and can beglimpsed. hepoem from being about anything with an everyday significance and suggestsit is related to the beginnings of life. In this way, the poem does not actually conclude with the meaning,but only concludes by showing his longing to recall his vision. The alliteration in this lineis clear and creates a calming sense to the poem. He has expressed howimportant his vision was, and presented it so it seems meaningful andbeautiful. This suggests that perhaps Coleridge is now referring to the real world,with the flowing river representing the passing of time and not a change inlocation.
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