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confused about coleridge (1 Viewer)

cerene

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can someone please tell me what kubla khan is all about? and how it relates to imaginative journeys? thanks
 

ari89

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This might suprise you but one of the most well known interpretations of Coleridge's Kubla Khan is of it being about sexual intercourse. e.g "that deep romantic chasm which slanted down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!", "...fast thick pants were breathing, a mighty fountain momently was forced" etc (I do not use this interpretation btw. I use the journey without reading in between the lines that way;))

*Runs upstairs at 1am during the holis to get notes for a random*
*Notices I was too lazy to make notes on it ><*

About Coleridge's texts being representative of imaginary journeys I truely hate. The most straight forward poem of his representing journeys in a clear and straight forward fashion is "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner". So if you need to choose a text and you don't understand fully understand the meaing to a really high level don't use it!

*The most superficial journey is the journey into his text and the imaginative world created.

*Mini-journeys in the text, "..through wood and dale the sacred river ran". An interestin interpretation of that in relation to the intercourse one is that the sacred river was the fallopian tubes and the sperm travelling through them. But you will find your own interpretation of the poem so do NOT adapt your mind to see it this way.

Essentially Coleridge, through the writting of his dream, brings to responder into the text and involves them in his imaginary world and ends essentially saying that if he could describe what happened people wouldn't believe him. So mostly you are looking at the joruney into the text and through the text.

These are off my head only making reference to the poem (i.e no notes) but its sufficient I guess but you need to hear what your teacher has to say about it.

Hope this helped!
 

sinerster

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For starters

Kubla Khan is a purely imaginative journey since it is one of Coleridge's dreams as stated in the introduction to the poem.

What is it about?

For me, Kubla Khan is about Coleridge's escape from Industrial Age England to a idealistic Romantic place.

Thats all i can manage for now at this early hour. Will try to update later.

For now, hope that helps.
 

cerene

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thanks guys

actually i was hoping the poem was abt exploring a magical like land but obviously not. well it has nothing to do with the supplementary texts i chose so i think ill stick with lime tree bower my prison

thanks agen
 

Mountain.Dew

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cerene, welcome to the BOS forums. we hope your time spent on the forums are informative, enlightening and enjoyable.

kubla khan is related to the creative process, how going through all these revelations and experiencing the wildness of nature lead coleridge to be enlightened with an enhanced creative mind and thoughts. the journey is both physical, and metaphorical -- he journeys along the river Alph, yet it is the representation of the imagination -- consider the parallels drawn between the physical journey on the river and the imaginative journey of enlightenment.
 

Hannahbannana59

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Mountain.Dew said:
cerene, welcome to the BOS forums. we hope your time spent on the forums are informative, enlightening and enjoyable.

kubla khan is related to the creative process, how going through all these revelations and experiencing the wildness of nature lead coleridge to be enlightened with an enhanced creative mind and thoughts. the journey is both physical, and metaphorical -- he journeys along the river Alph, yet it is the representation of the imagination -- consider the parallels drawn between the physical journey on the river and the imaginative journey of enlightenment.
hi guys i was wondering if u had any ideas relating to techqniues in Kubla Khan and how they relate to imaginative journeys? thanks...
 

genral

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it's about the process of imaginative creation and expression.
in the first half of the poem, STC is recreating his vision of Xanadu and we as the audience are taken on this journey imaginatively through his descriptions, emotions etc.
the second half is about imaginative creation, the power of the mind to create and destroy and the dangers of the creative process. STC wants to recreate Xanadu but can't. he's it's also got the Romantic idea that the poet is sacred, thus the whole going crazy thing.
hope that helps!
 

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