Sensuality, Sexuality, and Fertility in “Kubla Khan”
In “Kubla Khan,” Coleridge imagines a land where sensuality, sexuality, and fertility abound and share inextricable links. Any threats to the fecundity of the land exist outside of its magnificent walls. Coleridge uses this image of an impenetrable fortress of sexual creativity in considering his own mind, desiring the same productivity in his poetic imagination. By creating this connection, Coleridge finds both a source of inspiration and blurs the lines between the poet and the poem.
Coleridge describes Xanadu as a land where pleasure is a virtue, by both direct statement and appealing to the senses. The most direct insight into the luxury of Xanadu is given in Coleridge’s description of the land as a “pleasure dome” (2, 36). Besides stating it outright, Coleridge emphasizes the hedonistic nature of the land by appealing to the senses. A description of the hills mentions their “enfolding sunny spots of greenery” (11). These sunny patches both illuminate the vision of flourishing vegetation, while giving a tangible warmth in the same breath. Nearby, a garden is filled with “many an incense-bearing tree” (9), perfuming the air of the dome.
In his consideration of the Abyssinian maid, Coleridge continues his representation of sensual pleasure. Although unable to remember “her symphony and
song” (43), Coleridge knows that any recollection “to such a deep delight ‘twould win me” (44). This later recollection demonstrates that Coleridge’s vision includes the
pleasure of sound, as well as the presence of sights and sounds. Coleridge continues to emphasize the hedonism of this vision, as he purposefully equips the musical maid with a dulcimer. The Oxford...
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...nd overflowing with life: the product of sensuality and sexuality. Coleridge emphasizes the interconnection of these elements by weaving them seamlessly into the same lines. In a metaphor in which he consumes the fruit of this flourishing land, Coleridge can internalize the fertility of this land and utilize it for his poetic imagination. Just as Xanadu remains safely distanced from threats against its proliferation, near the end of his poem Coleridge draws a metaphorical line around himself to discourage creative invasions. The supposed history of the poem’s composition lends some irony to this suggestion, as Coleridge claims to have ceased his transcription to answer the door.
Works Cited
Abrams, M. H, ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. New York, NY. Norton and Company, 2000.
The Oxford English Dictionary Online. 27 February 2008.
Furthermore, Wordsworth’s assertion of feelings as the effects of an action or a situation, which means that actions should influence the emotions of the character and not the other way around, is dissimilar to The Raven’s character’s feeling of desperation in which he succumbed to his distress. However, the lesson derived from the bizarre workings of the human mind in preferring more devotion to the pain for the sake of “preserving the memory,” as “The Raven” illustrates, exposes to us how a particular person behaves towards grief. The statement thus proves in relation to Coleridge’s statement of the readers’ elicitation of the poem is more significant than the poem itself (in reference to his emphasis on the importance of the “Return”). Another variation between Wordsworth and Coleridge is that the former claims that the writer must bring the language near to the language of men, whilst the latter believes that the language of poetry should beautiful and elevated. “The Raven” in this case
(ll. 19-24) Wordsworth’s famous and simple poem, “I wandered lonely as a cloud,” expresses the Romantic Age’s appreciation for the beauty and truth that can be found in a setting as ordinary as a field of daffodils. With this final stanza, Wordsworth writes of the mind’s ability to carry those memories of nature’s beauty into any setting, whether city or country. His belief in the power of the imagination and the effect it can have on nature, and vice a versa, is evident in most of his work. This small
Christina Rossetti's, 'Goblin Market' is one of the most controversial poems of it's time. Although she insisted it was meant to be seen as a childrens fairytale, many readers have interpreted it as an erotic poem, many seeing it as a warning for young women against the temptations of sex. The poem has many hidden inuendos. For example the Goblin's describe the fruit in a sensual way, “Plump unpecked cherries” (line 7). Cherries are seen as a sign of virtue so this a clear example of a sexual situation. There is also a very strong religious theme in this poem. The fruit the goblin merchants are offering is a very clear symbol of Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit. “Obviously the conscious or semi-conscious allegorial intention of this narrative poem is sexual/religious.” (Gilbert and Gubar, 566). This essay will discuss the theme of sensuous experience in terms of what makes this poem erotic, female sexuality and it also aims to discuss the religious symbolism in Rossetti's, 'Goblin Market'.
To fully understand this poem, the reader would find it helpful to know what led Coleridge to write it. Coleridge grew up with English essayist Charles Lamb in school and the two were close friends (Merriman.) In their later years, however, the two rarely saw each other as Coleridge lived in the country side and Lamb lived in the city, where he cared for his mentally ill sister (Merriman.) On one of the rare days Lamb went to visit him, Coleridge planed to go on a walk through the scenic area surrounding his house with Lamb and some other friends, but before they left, Coleridge’s wife accidentally dropped boiling milk on his foot and he was unable to participate in the walk (Benzon.) While the others gallivanted across the countryside, Coleridge sat in his garden and wrote this poem.
Abrams, M.H., et al. ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. 2 Vols. New York: Norton, 1993.
He has simply gained something in return: looking at nature, not in thoughtless ways but seeing its true meaning and beauty; hearing the sad music of humanity. The “Frost at Midnight” and “Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey” contain different understandings of these two speakers; Wordsworth and Coleridge. Wordsworth is raised in a simple countryside and he views his childhood as a time when his relationship with nature was at its greatest; he revisits his childhood memories to relieve his feelings and encourage his imagination.
M.H. Abrams, et al; ed., The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Sixth Edition, Volume I. W.W. Norton & Company, New York/London, 1993.
The poets integrated ?metaphysical conceits? as focal parts of these poems. Along with these, they used effective language as a basis for their convincing arguments, they included subjects of periodical importance (e.g. ?courtship? and ?religion?), and use very clever structures that are manipulated in order to make the poem read in the desired way. The very clear indication of the theme in question was strongly aided by the way in which the personas portrayed the emotions they felt and the way they showed their attitudes towards the subject. Considering all these factors, the poets made critical arguments to the mistresses in order to alter their views, thus changing their minds, on denying the poets the sex that they desired so strongly.
Abrams, M.H., ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 1993.
Reidhead, Julia, ed. Norton Anthology of English Literature vol. 7, 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000.
Abrams, M. H., et al., The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 1986.
Abrams, M. & Greenblatt, S. 2000. The Norton Anthology of English Literature 7th ed. Vol. 2. London: Norton.
In “Kubla Khan,” Coleridge expresses his desire to use the inspirations from nature to create his own “Paradise” of poetry (54, p.1634). In the first stanza, Coleridge creates an exotic oriental garden, where the trees, gardens, hills, and the “Alph” river, together present the beauty of Mother Nature (3, p.1633). Here, the poet carefully observes his surroundings, as the nature will serve as the source of inspiration for his poetry. The “pleasure dome” (2, p.1633) in line two has two functions, one representing the creation of human beings on earth, and the other being the foundation of Coleridge’s poetic paradise. As the clash between nature and humans takes place in the second stanza with a “woman wailing for her demon-lover” (16, p.1633) the poet calls upon nature for his inspiration, represented by the powerful activity of nature. The energy of nature is released in forms of “a might fountain” (19, p.1633), “rebounding hail” (21, p.1633), or “dancing rocks” (23, p.1633) and eventually the natural disasters will accompanied by man-made destruction as “Kubla heard from far Ancestral voices prophesying war” (29-30, p.1634)! Coleridge on one hand reinforces that man and nature are inseparable and one the other uses the energy of nature to represent the spontaneous spurring of emotions in the poet’s mind.
In two works by Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan, both works regard the imagination as vitally important. In the Ancient Mariner, the imagination (or rather, the lack of it) condemns the Mariner to a kind of hell, with the fiends of sterility, solitude, and loneliness: “’God save thee, Ancient Mariner, from the fiends that plague thee thus! Why look’st thou so?’ ‘With my crossbow I shot the Albatross’”. In Kubla Khan, the imagination of an external being, the narrator that Coleridge created, the ideal critic, can create a masterpiece that far outstrips the meager piece of work that even the emperor of a huge, rich civilization can produce: “I would build that dome in air, a sunny dome! Those caves of ice! And all who heard should see them there, and all should cry, Beware! Beware!” In Kubla Khan, the imagination can even make people fear an otherwise inconsequential event, sequence, or organism.
In a vision once I saw: (.) That with music loud and long. I would build that dome in air (37-46). “Xanadu” is a wonderful “Paradise” of fantasy, but Coleridge draws the reader back to reality with the word “I.” He immediately transitions from describing visionary objects to explaining his own poetic challenge. The “pleasure-dome” mirrors the poem, and Kubla Khan mirrors Coleridge.