Is "Kubla Khan" written by Coleridge a fragmented poem? Is it truly an opium-induced unfinished dream?
©2023 G. Ghosh, All rights reserved
By Gargi Ghosh
Kubla Khan is one of the most celebrated poems of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, but it remains shrouded in mystery and controversy to this day. The poem is famous for its picturesque imagery, vivid language, and its intriguing use of imagery and symbolism. However, it is also often described as a fragmented work, an unfinished dream of Coleridge. This article will explore why Kubla Khan is truly a fragmented poem and an unfinished dream of Coleridge.
The Kubla Khan poem, as it currently exists, is only 54 lines long. However, it is known that Coleridge originally wrote a much longer version of the poem. The history of the poem's creation is fascinating. Coleridge claimed that he wrote the poem after waking from an opium-induced dream in which he saw the magnificent palace and gardens of Kublai Khan, the Mongolian emperor who ruled China in the 13th century. He said that he composed 200-300 lines of the poem in his dream but was interrupted by a visitor. According to him, this interruption caused him to forget the lines. When he returned to his writing, he discovered that he couldn't recall the rest of the lines, leaving the poem forever unfinished. This interruption is what led critics to label Kubla Khan as an unfinished dream.
Kubla Khan is indeed a fragmented poem in several senses. The first is evident from its structure. The poem is divided into three stanzas and appears disjointed. The first stanza is an introduction that describes the exotic landscape and sets the tone for the rest of the poem. The second stanza jumps into the description of the "stately pleasure-dome" of Kublai Khan. This part of the poem is rich with vivid language and creates an image of an incredible and enchanting place. The final stanza changes direction yet again, and Coleridge describes the scenery surrounding the palace. However, while these three parts are thematically linked, there is no logical transition from one to the other, further contributing to the poem's fragmentation.
The second sense in which it is fragmented is evident in Coleridge's use of language. Coleridge's style of writing is known for its fluidity, but in Kubla Khan, he uses fragmented language that appears to have been interrupted halfway through a thought or sentence. This is especially evident in the final stanza of the poem, where the language becomes chaotic, and the structure of sentences is broken. This fragmentation mirrors the interrupted dream Coleridge experienced, adding to the feeling of the poem being unfinished and incomplete.
Finally, the third sense in which Kubla Khan is a fragmented poem is seen in its themes. The poem's central themes are about the beauty and power of nature, the sublime nature of the imagination, and the enigmatic power of art. The imagery and symbolism used in the poem point to a more substantial narrative about the creative process and the relationship between imagination and reality. However, Coleridge never managed to finish the poem, and the themes are never fully explored, leaving the poem in an unfinished state.
In conclusion, Kubla Khan is indeed a fragmented poem, an unfinished dream of Coleridge. Its disjointed structure, the use of fragmented language, and the incomplete themes all contribute to the sense of incompleteness and mystery that surrounds the poem. Despite this, it remains an extraordinary work of poetry, a vivid and evocative description of an imagined world that has captured the imagination of readers for centuries.
©2023 G. Ghosh, All rights reserved
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