a symbol of solidarity and permanence, with its "walls and towers girdled round". The fact that the forests in the dome are ancient make it clear that this dome has existed for a long time.
             Coleridge describes everything in this stanza as beautiful and perfect. The "ancient forests", "gardens bright" and "spots of greenery" create a euphoric ambiance. Once again, this adds to the elements of surrealism in this paradise.
             It is very important to note that Colerdige supposedly composed this poem while sleeping or in a drug-induced state. He was said to have written this poem as soon as he awoke but was interrupted before he was done recounting what he had seen in his mind.
             The first stanza explains what he had seen.
             In this first stanza there is no mention of a threat to the ecstasy of the paradise. This threat reveals itself as the poem progresses. The first stanza portrays the dome as a permanent gift that the poet had created for himself, that is all the reader knows up until this point in the poem. But since it is evident that it is only a dream, it can be assumed that the threat will present itself later in the poem, which it does. Later in the lines it is clear that this dome risks losing parts of itself when translated into words. But Coleridge's goal in the first paragraph was to bring his dream into reality and share this "pleasure dome" with his readers. As the poem progresses the failure that Coleridge encounters becomes increasingly more evident.
             The dome mentioned in the first stanza holds a lot of symbolic meaning. It is the unifying factor of everything incorporated in Coleridge's paradise. It represents unity and power. It stands as a "stately" model of the wholeness and purity of thought. This thought (dome) is untainted by earthly concerns. It is strong enough to stand and exist on its own. Because it is round, this suggest...