An Analysis of Coleridge's "Kubla Kahn" Although the form of "Kubla Kahn" is beautiful, it is complex. The rhyme patterns are quite complicated; the first stanza, for example, rhymes according to the abaab ccdede model. Coleridge's alliteration patterns are also involved: he sometimes uses the beginning sound of one syllable as the beginning sound of the next syllable, as in "Xanadu did" in the first line, "winding miles" in line 25 , and “deep delight” in line 44. He also alliterates vowels, not just consonants, to produce a rhythmic singing effect. Although the form and beautiful language of "Kubla Kahn" were all I could appreciate when I first read the poem, I have since realized that the poem also has a complex symbolic pattern. My own analysis may seem paltry in the face of the fact that thousands of critiques have been published against this poem, some comprising entire volumes. But the sheer quantity of criticism can serve as an argument that any interpretation of the poem is actually an investigation into the author of the criticism. That is to say, the poem has no external meaning, or at least the meaning given by the author is of secondary importance. The subtitle of “Kubla Kahn” reads: “Or a Vision in a Dream.” Dreams may or may not have symbolic meaning, but it is unlikely that anyone intentionally designed symbolic meaning specifically for an individual dream. My reading of “Kubla Kahn” depends on a biographical detail from Coleridge’s life. Coleridge had been an opium addict for years, and Appelbaum, editor of a collection of Romantic poetry, says that "some of his [Coleridge's] poems reflect the anguish this caused." (Appelbaum viii) Coleridge...... middle of paper......his change in the author's attitude. While he may have previously been seen as simply an opium visionary – a weak person who lives outside of the everyday reality we all live in – here he is also revealed as a creator, a strong individual. Coleridge identifies himself here with Kubla Kahn. The Kahns decreed a majestic pleasure dome, while Coleridge created a poem likened to the dome. “Kubla Kahn” is Coleridge’s attempt to rise above what many people think of as drug addicts and show himself to be a strong creator, to the level of an emperor who founded a great dynasty. Works Cited: Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. "Kubla Kahn" in The McGraw-Hill Poetry Book. Ed. Kraft Rompf and Robert DiYanni. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993. Appelbaum, Stanley, ed. English Romantic Poetry: An Anthology. Mineola: Dover, 1996.