What are the Romantic elements in S. T. Coleridge's "Kubla Khan"?

One key characteristic of Romantic poetry is the celebration of the imagination. Romantic poetry also often describes the power of the natural world and celebrates the sensual as more vital than the rational. Coleridge's "Kubla Khan" demonstrates all three of these characteristics.

The poem itself, or at least the images within it, came to Coleridge in a fevered dream under the influence of medicated opium. It is thus a product of his imagination in a heightened form. The "stately pleasure-dome" that Kubla Khan decrees is itself a symbol and manifestation of the power of imagination. The dome floats "midway on the waves" and is built "in air." It thus has no solid, tangible foundations, but rather, like the imagination, floats free of constraints.

Coleridge also writes in detail about the power of nature. In the second stanza he describes a "Mighty fountain" which, "with ceaseless turmoil seething," erupts from "that deep romantic chasm." Nature here, in the form of the fountain, is forceful and physically powerful. It shatters rocks so that fragments fall "Like rebounding hail." Often in Romantic poetry, nature is presented as powerful to emphasize, by contrast, the relative powerlessness of mankind.

In the last stanza especially, the speaker testifies to the power of the damsel's "symphony and song," which transports him to "such a deep delight." In fact, the damsel's song is so beautiful as to be synonymous with the aforementioned "sunny dome." The speaker says that he will "with music loud and long ... build that dome in air." This link between the song and the dome forges a link between the senses on one hand and the imagination on the other. The two are, indeed, inseparable and co-dependent. One's imagination is fuelled by one's senses, and one's senses are heightened by one's imagination.

What are the Romantic elements in S. T. Coleridge's "Kubla Khan"?

"Kubla Khan" is a fine example of romantic poetry. It embodies all the various themes one associates with that literary movement. It is a work of heightened imagination; its vision is dreamy and radically subjective; its setting is exotic and strange, far removed from the rational, logical world of the European Enlightenment; and it shows a reverence and passion for the force of nature, a sublime power in its own right.

All of these elements are there right from the start. One doesn't have to look too hard to find them. In line 3, we're introduced to "Alph, the sacred river." A river is not just a body of water to a romantic like Coleridge; it is invested with almost supernatural properties. Nature is not something to be exploited by man; it is sacred and alive and must be treated with respect and awe.

Coleridge provides us with examples of great natural beauty:

"And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, 

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; 

And here were forests ancient as the hills, 

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery."

"But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted  Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!  A savage place! as holy and enchanted As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted By woman wailing for her demon-lover!  And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,  As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,  A mighty fountain momently was forced . . ."

How does Coleridge use supernatural elements in “Kubla Khan”?

In his poem “Kubla Khan,” Samuel Taylor Coleridge includes supernatural elements to create a mysterious, spooky atmosphere. He begins with an inscription that labels the poem “a vision in a dream.” This in itself hints at the supernatural, especially with the use of the word “vision,” which usually suggests a source coming from outside of a person, usually supernatural.

The poem's first stanza begins to describe Xanadu, with its “walls and towers,” gardens and trees, ancient forests, and “sunny spots of greenery.” There isn't anything especially supernatural in this description, but in the second stanza, the poet introduces an element of mystery. There is a “deep romantic chasm” in the region of Xanadu. It is a “savage place,” enchanted perhaps, as if it where haunted by a “woman wailing for her demon-lover.” Here we have a strong supernatural suggestion that introduces an air of eeriness and perhaps even a bit of fear and an overtone of menace into the environment. The speaker is not saying that such a woman haunts the place, yet is it exactly the kind of place such a woman might haunt.

Further, as Kubla Khan listens to the running river, which is called the “sacred river,” again a note of the supernatural that heightens the atmosphere, he hears “ancestral voices prophesying war.” Voices rise up from the past, whether literally or in Kubla Khan's mind, that warn him of a violent, strife-filled future. Here the supernatural introduces a foreshadowing. The poem is a fragment, so we never discover if the prophecy comes true or not, and we are left again with mystery.

Finally, in the last stanza, a mysterious being with “flashing eyes” and “floating hair” appears, and we are warned to beware and told to “weave a circle round him thrice.” This being seems to be supernaturally evil, and his evil must be contained by the protection of the ritual. Yet, we are told that he has “drunk the milk of Paradise,” which seems paradoxical, for in that case he may not be evil (if Paradise is equivalent to heaven). The suggestion may be that anything beyond the world is perilous to humanity.

What elements of Romanticism are portrayed in Coleridge's "Kubla Khan"?

Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan” exhibits many of the elements of Romanticism. Let’s review those and see how they appear in the poem to get you started on this assignment.

First, we will look at the major characteristics of Romanticism. Think in terms of Romanticism’s exaltation of the natural world, its focus on creativity and the emotions, its emphasis on imagination, its love of beauty and vivid detail, its inclusion of the supernatural, its use of personification, and its enjoyment of solitude.

Now read through the poem, and ask yourself where you see the characteristics of Romanticism. You should certainly be able to pick out examples of the exaltation of the natural world, the elements of the supernatural, and the beautiful, vivid details the poet uses. Think, too, of the focus on creativity and imagination. Xanadu is a symbol of these. It is also a place of solitude and reflection. Yet there is something rather sinister beneath the surface, something a little scary. This, too, speaks of Romanticism, for the Romantics like to remind us of the depths that are beyond our sight, depths that can be both beautiful and terrifying.

How does Coleridge depict the relationship between the physical world, the mind, and the divine in "Kubla Khan"?

Many critics view this poem as an allegory about the process of creating art: just as Kubla Khan creates his pleasure dome and his earthy paradise by imposing his will on nature, reflecting something of the divine in its beauty, so too does the poet, captured in the memorable figure of the man with his "flashing eyes" and "floating hair," try to create art by reflecting divine beauty in his work as he makes order out of chaos. It is this act that the speaker explicitly states he wishes to achieve in the final stanza, as he contemplates Kubla Khan's creation and wishes that he could do the same with his poetry:

I would build that dome in air,

That sunny dome! Those caves of ice!

What Kubla Khan creates in the "sunny pleasure dome with caves of ice" becomes a powerful symbol of artistic creation. The relationship between the divine, the natural world and the mind is therefore expressed in this allegory: the mind seeks to reflect something of the divine, or heavenly beauty, through imposing its creation on the world around it. Just as Coleridge himself created the poem "Kubla Khan," so too did Kubla Khan show this relationship through his creation of the "sunny pleasure dome" with its "caves of ice."