question about Kubla Khan (1 Viewer)

[ellejay145]

hey,
i was just wondering whether this "Kubla Khan" fellow actually existed, ie the persona is recreating a description of this pleasure dome, so did it ever really exist in reality ???
also, any thoughts on Frost at Midnight, Kubla Khan and Journeys Over Sea and Land would be appreciated; i like to hear other points of view.
thanks
Lisa

 

[Kezalicious]

Well Coleridge was reading Purcha's description of Kubla Khan, "Here the Kubla Khan commanded a palace to be built, and stately garden thereunto, And thus ten tmiles of fertile ground were inclosed with a wall," he fell asleep after reading these words and woke later to write the poem.

Kubla Khan was a descendant of Genhis Khan who was a notorious mongolian marauder, generally I think the man existed but his depictions have been exaggerated over time. You don't really need to prove he existed in the HSC but I guess this answers your question. My teacher gave a brief background of the each coleridge poem we studied i.e what they were based on.

 

[fearless86]

yes, my teacher said kubla khan did exist. and in reply to something you wrote in another thread- i think its assumed by most people that coleridge was on drugs and that these were opium-induced dreams.

thoughts on frost at midnight- coleridge is sitting alone at night with his son sleeping by his side. something (the fire?) reminds him about his childhood and he starts reminiscing about how crap it was growing up in the city and how he loved visiting the countryside. This makes him excited about nature and he decides that his son will have a v. good childhood in the country.
In conclusion, through the use of different poetic techniques to highlight his feelings about crapness of city/greatness of country, Coleridge takes the responder on an imaginative journey, and imparts upon them his belief in the power of the nature.

 

[ellejay145]

firstly, thanks to both of you for replying ... getting replies from people on this site is like pulling teeth sometimes.
thanks for clearing that up with me, i thought it did exist (or i should say he did) because of the small paragraph or two of info which is provided on the side of the poem, but i was still unsure .. im no history buff or anything so im not really in touch with much that happened in the past. im not going to venture too far into a description on the fact that he actually did exist, i just wanted to know to support my thesis statement for that poem.
and yes, i know it is assumed that he was on drugs and what not but our teacher told us not to press too much on that point ... can't remember why .. maybe because it is only assumed ??
anyway, thanks again for your input.
toodles

 

[Kissokomes]

Coleridge's drug of choice was Laudinum, a paticularly nasty combination of Opium and Alcohol. I think it's fairly accepted he was high when he wrote the poem. As far as I know the pleasure dome doesn`t actually exist, but in my mind it alludes to the garden of Eden. Bearing in mind I`m not an HSC marker, you might not want to write that...

 

[ellejay145]

thats cool, i just wanted to know because my thesis has to do with reality and the imagination, and i was going to tie in with Kubla Khan to reality (erm, excuse my vagueness but i dont want to give too much away, im competing with you all remember!) if Kubla Khan did exist ... but its cool, thanks for your help