Kubla KHAN Themes - Summary PDF

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KUBLA KHAN THEMES By Samuel Taylor Colerige VERSIONS OF REALITY Coleridge makes this one easy for us since the subtitle of the poem is "a Vision in a Dream." This poem is meant to make us feel like we are in an alternate reality. We recognize all the objects he describes, but the images he creates move in ways we don't expect. People appear and disappear strangely, just like in a dream or a hallucination. Think of it as a scary Alice in Wonderland. THEME OF MAN AND THE NATURAL WORLD The interaction between man and nature is a major theme for Coleridge. It's painted all over "Kubla Khan," as we go from the dome to the river, and then from the gardens to the sea. Sometimes he's focused on human characters, sometimes on natural forces. In fact, it's difficult to get away from this theme in this poem. Think of this tension as a tug-of war between humans and their temporary constructions (buildings) and the seeming permanence of nature. TIME There's some strange stuff going on with time in "Kubla Khan." When exactly does this poem take place? The Kubla Khan who actually lived belongs to the past, but is Coleridge recalling the Kubla Khan of the past, or someone who transcends our linear notion of time? If you are having a vision, are you looking backward or forward? Are you outside time? Whether or not these questions have answers, it's evident that different understandings of time is a major theme of the poem. ART AND CULTURE Coleridge helps orient the reader by specifically mentioning music in a few places in "Kubla Khan." Even when he explicitly reference music, we think it's underscoring every line. Do you hear music in this poem? We definitely do, and we think he wanted his readers to as well. Whether the sound you hear is monks chanting in a cave, or the swelling of a symphony, we think music is all over this poem in the sounds it makes and in the way it moves....