“Kubla Khan: “A Description of Earthly Paradise speaking about the world, his conception was quite simple: Coleridge had read a book about Kubla Khan in Xanadu (by a man named Samuel Purchas) before falling into a deep sleep induced by a mixture of opium to which he had long been addicted. When he awoke from this drug-induced stupor, he apparently had 200-300 lines of poetry in mind, but after writing the first three stanzas he was interrupted (and so we see a change in the poem at this point) by “a person from Porlock” (Brett 46-8) and could only remember one last bit of lines – the last stanza of “Kubla Khan”. (This interruption apparently makes the poem: "what is perhaps the definitive statement on the obstruction and contrariety of visionary genius." ["Sparknotes"]) The poem itself is set in a fantastical place called Xanadu, where lies the magnificent palace of Kubla Khan. surrounded by lush greenery and a fast-flowing river (its emphasis on nature being consistent with romantic poetry of the time.) Xanadu was a real place, but Coleridge's poem mostly exaggerates its beauty and depth . Other places mentioned in the poem, Mount Abora and Abyssinia, may be references to other works, such as John Milton's Paradise Lost, in which Abyssinian kings kept their children at Mount Amara, a false paradise . (Stevenson 605-30) Another possible explanation for Coleridge's choice of setting is that he was creating the paradise in which he wanted to reside; (Coleridge was something of a radical in politics; he, with Robert Southey, was part of a movement called "Pantisocracy", which called for...... middle of paper...... Scribner's Sons, 1981. 46-8. "Sparknotes: Coleridge's Poetry: "Kubla Khan."." Sparknotes, February 26, 2012. Schroeder, JM "Kubla Khan or a Vision in a Dream - Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 1797/. 1798." English Romantics . 07 01 2002: n.page Web. February 26, 2012. "Dreaming of Xanadu: A guide to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan." Stevenson, Warren. "'Kubla Khan' as Symbol." Texas Studies in Literature and Language Vol. n.pag.Web.February 26, 2012.symbol.html.>.

Essay / “Kubla Khan: “A Description of Earthly Paradise speaking about the world, his conception was quite simple: Coleridge had read a book about Kubla Khan in Xanadu (by a man named Samuel Purchas) before falling into a deep sleep induced by a mixture of opium to which he had long been addicted. When he awoke from this drug-induced stupor, he apparently had 200-300 lines of poetry in mind, but after writing the first three stanzas he was interrupted (and so we see a change in the poem at this point) by “a person from Porlock” (Brett 46-8) and could only remember one last bit of lines – the last stanza of “Kubla Khan”. (This interruption apparently makes the poem: "what is perhaps the definitive statement on the obstruction and contrariety of visionary genius." ["Sparknotes"]) The poem itself is set in a fantastical place called Xanadu, where lies the magnificent palace of Kubla Khan. surrounded by lush greenery and a fast-flowing river (its emphasis on nature being consistent with romantic poetry of the time.) Xanadu was a real place, but Coleridge's poem mostly exaggerates its beauty and depth . Other places mentioned in the poem, Mount Abora and Abyssinia, may be references to other works, such as John Milton's Paradise Lost, in which Abyssinian kings kept their children at Mount Amara, a false paradise . (Stevenson 605-30) Another possible explanation for Coleridge's choice of setting is that he was creating the paradise in which he wanted to reside; (Coleridge was something of a radical in politics; he, with Robert Southey, was part of a movement called "Pantisocracy", which called for...... middle of paper...... Scribner's Sons, 1981. 46-8. "Sparknotes: Coleridge's Poetry: "Kubla Khan."." Sparknotes, February 26, 2012. Schroeder, JM "Kubla Khan or a Vision in a Dream - Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 1797/. 1798." English Romantics . 07 01 2002: n.page Web. February 26, 2012. "Dreaming of Xanadu: A guide to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan." Stevenson, Warren. "'Kubla Khan' as Symbol." Texas Studies in Literature and Language Vol. n.pag.Web.February 26, 2012.symbol.html.>.

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