Kubla Khan: A Miracle of Rare Device

Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “Kubla Khan” is a masterpiece of ambiguity; from its inception to its meaning. “Kubla Khan” is a poem of abundant literary devices; most notably these devices include metaphors, allusions, internal rhyme, anthropomorphism, simile, alliteration, and perhaps most of all structure. But the devices that Coleridge used to create “Kubla Khan” is at the very least what makes this poem provocative; Coleridge’s opium induced vision and utopian ideals combined with his literary genius form a subjective yet imaginative dreamscape of a pleasure-dome in Xanadu ruled by “Kubla Khan”.

Before delving into an analysis of “Kubla Khan”, a brief history of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s life and ideals will prove beneficial into understanding the scope of “Kubla Khan”’s significance. Coleridge went to Cambridge University between 1792 and 1794, leaving with no degree; afterwards traveling to America where he made a commitment to construct a utopian colony (Daniel 674). Coleridge’s utopian ideal is reflected from the beginning in “Kubla Khan”; the poem starts by introducing the reader to the title character Kubla Khan and the land in which he rules, Xanadu, in which his ‘pleasure-dome’ lies. The pleasure-dome can serve as a metaphor to the utopian society that Coleridge wished to create in America but failed; he did however marry one of the prospective utopians due to similar ideals no doubt. Around 1795 Coleridge befriended William Wordsworth who, along with Coleridge, was another one of the great Romantic poets; it is said if Wordsworth was a pillar to Romanticism, then Coleridge was an important structural support. Even though both Wordsworth and Coleridge shared an idealization of nature and a stress on human joy, C...

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...ne 53. Coleridge’s use of anthropomorphism, simile, and alliteration in “Kubla Khan” are perhaps not as significant as the allusions were to the overall meaning but nevertheless supplement the tone and rhythm of the poem.

Works Cited

Kilvert, Ian Scott. British Writers Volume 4. New York, New York: Charles Scribner, 1981.

Daniel, Kathleen. Elements of Literature, Sixth Course Literature of Britain. Austin, Texas: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1997.

Tiefert, Marjorie. “Samuel Taylor Coleridge.” Poets.org. 2012. Academy of American Poets. Web. 25 Feb 2012.

Koeller, David. “Kublai Khan Rules China.” Thenagain.info. Kris Duncan, Sarah Johnson, Becky Wells. 21 September 1999. The Web Chronology Project. Web. 25 Feb 2012.

Cummings, Michael. “Kubla Khan By Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)” cummingsstudyguides.net. 2011. Cummings Study Guides. Web. 25 Feb 2012.