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'''''Kubla Khan''''' is a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge , completed in 1797 and published in ''Christabel, Kubla Khan, and the Pains of Sleep'' in 1816. According to Coleridge's Preface to ''Kubla Khan'', the poem was composed one night after he experienced an opium influenced dream after reading a work describing the Tartar king Kublai Khan . Upon waking, he set about writing lines of poetry that came to him from the dream until he was interrupted by a person from Porlock . The poem could not be completed according to its original 200-300 line plan as the interruption caused him to forget the lines. Although the specific details of Coleridge's Preface are debatable, he most likely composed ''Kubla Khan'' during autumn 1797 but left unpublished and kept for private readings until 1816 when, on the prompting by George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron George Gordon Byron , it was made available to the public.

'''''Kubla Khan''''' is a [[poem]] by [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]], completed in 1797 and published in ''Christabel, Kubla Khan, and the Pains of Sleep'' in 1816. According to Coleridge's Preface to ''Kubla Khan'', the poem was composed one night after he experienced an [[opium]] influenced dream after reading a work describing the Tartar king [[Kublai Khan]]. Upon waking, he set about writing lines of poetry that came to him from the dream until he was interrupted by a person from Porlock . The poem could not be completed according to its original 200-300 line plan as the interruption caused him to forget the lines. Although the specific details of Coleridge's Preface are debatable, he most likely composed ''Kubla Khan'' during autumn 1797 but left unpublished and kept for private readings until 1816 when, on the prompting by [[Lord Byron|George Gordon Byron]], 6th Baron Byron George Gordon Byron , it was made available to the public.

The poem is different in style and form from other poems composed by Coleridge. While incomplete and subtitled a "fragment", its language is highly stylized with a strong emphasis on sound devices that change between the poem's original two stanza s. The first stanza of the poem describes Khan's pleasure dome built alongside a sacred river fed by a powerful fountain. The second stanza of the poem is the narrator's response to the power and effects of a Habesha people Abyssinian maid's song, which enraptures him but leaves him unable to act on her inspiration unless he could hear her once again. Together, they form a comparison of creative power that does not work with nature and creative power that is harmonious with nature.

The poem is different in style and form from other poems composed by Coleridge. While incomplete and subtitled a "fragment", its language is highly stylized with a strong emphasis on sound devices that change between the poem's original two stanza s. The first stanza of the poem describes Khan's pleasure dome built alongside a sacred river fed by a powerful fountain. The second stanza of the poem is the narrator's response to the power and effects of a Habesha people Abyssinian maid's song, which enraptures him but leaves him unable to act on her inspiration unless he could hear her once again. Together, they form a comparison of creative power that does not work with nature and creative power that is harmonious with nature.

==Background==

==Background==

In September 1797, Coleridge lived in Stowey in the south west of England and spent much of his time walking through the nearby Quantock Hills with his fellow poet William Wordsworth and Wordsworth's sister Dorothy ;<ref name="Holmes 1989 pp. 161-162">Holmes 1989 pp. 161-162</ref> the route is memorialized as the " Coleridge Way ".<ref>[http://www.somerset-rural-renaissance.co.uk/coleridge-way.html] "The Coleridge Way". Somerset Rural Renaissance, 2007. accessdate=2 July 2010}}</ref> Throughout the autumn, he worked on many poems, including "The Brook" and the tragedy ''Osorio''. Some time between 9 October and 14 October 1797, when Coleridge says he had completed the tragedy, he left Stowey for Lynton. On his return, he became sick and rested at Ash Farm, located at Culbone Church and one of the few places to seek shelter on his route.<ref name="Holmes 1989 pp. 161-162"/> In 1934, a copy of the poem known as the Crewe Manuscript was discovered and it contained a note about the origin of ''Kubla Khan''.<ref name="Ashton p. 112">Ashton 1997 p. 112</ref> Coleridge attributed the poem's origins to one of his stays at Ash Farm, possibly the one that happened in October 1797: "This fragment with a good deal more, not recoverable, composed, in a sort of Reverie brought on by two grains of Opium taken to check a dysentry, at a Farm House between Porlock & Linton, a quarter of a mile from Culbone Church, in the fall of the year, 1797".<ref>Holmes 1989 qtd. p. 162</ref> Coleridge explained in the Preface of the 1816 edition that he read from Samuel Purchas 's ''Pilgrimage'' and included a passage that directly influenced his thoughts:<ref>Holmes 1989 pp. 163-164</ref>

In September 1797, Coleridge lived in Stowey in the south west of [[England]] and spent much of his time walking through the nearby Quantock Hills with his fellow poet [[William Wordsworth]] and Wordsworth's sister Dorothy ;<ref name="Holmes 1989 pp. 161-162">Holmes 1989 pp. 161-162</ref> the route is memorialized as the " Coleridge Way ".<ref>[http://www.somerset-rural-renaissance.co.uk/coleridge-way.html] "The Coleridge Way". Somerset Rural Renaissance, 2007. accessdate=2 July 2010}}</ref> Throughout the autumn, he worked on many poems, including "The Brook" and the tragedy ''Osorio''. Some time between 9 October and 14 October 1797, when Coleridge says he had completed the tragedy, he left Stowey for Lynton. On his return, he became sick and rested at Ash Farm, located at Culbone Church and one of the few places to seek shelter on his route.<ref name="Holmes 1989 pp. 161-162"/> In 1934, a copy of the poem known as the Crewe Manuscript was discovered and it contained a note about the origin of ''Kubla Khan''.<ref name="Ashton p. 112">Ashton 1997 p. 112</ref> Coleridge attributed the poem's origins to one of his stays at Ash Farm, possibly the one that happened in October 1797: "This fragment with a good deal more, not recoverable, composed, in a sort of Reverie brought on by two grains of Opium taken to check a dysentry, at a Farm House between Porlock & Linton, a quarter of a mile from Culbone Church, in the fall of the year, 1797".<ref>Holmes 1989 qtd. p. 162</ref> Coleridge explained in the Preface of the 1816 edition that he read from Samuel Purchas 's ''Pilgrimage'' and included a passage that directly influenced his thoughts:<ref>Holmes 1989 pp. 163-164</ref>

<blockquote>In ''Xanada'' did ''Cublai Can'' build a stately Pallace, encompassing sixteene miles of plaine ground with a wall, wherein are fertile Meddows, pleasant Springs, delightful Streames, and all sorts of beasts of chase and game, and in the midst thereof a sumptuous house of pleasure, which may be removed from place to place. Here he doth abide in the months of June, July, and August, on the eight and twentieth day whereof, he departeth thence to another place to do sacrifice in this manner: He hath a Herd or Drove of Horses and Mares, about ten thousand, as white as snow; of the milke whereof none may taste, except he be of the blood of ''Cingis Can''. Yea, the Tartars do these beasts great reverence, nor dare any cross their way, or go before them. According to the directions of his Astrologers or Magicians, he on the eight and twentieth day of August aforesaid, spendeth and poureth forth with his owne hands the milke of these Mares in the aire, and on the earth, to give drink to the spirits and Idols which they worship, that they may preserve the men, women, beasts, birds, corne, and other things growing on the earth.<ref>Holmes 1989 qtd. pp. 163-164</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>In ''Xanada'' did ''Cublai Can'' build a stately Pallace, encompassing sixteene miles of plaine ground with a wall, wherein are fertile Meddows, pleasant Springs, delightful Streames, and all sorts of beasts of chase and game, and in the midst thereof a sumptuous house of pleasure, which may be removed from place to place. Here he doth abide in the months of June, July, and August, on the eight and twentieth day whereof, he departeth thence to another place to do sacrifice in this manner: He hath a Herd or Drove of Horses and Mares, about ten thousand, as white as snow; of the milke whereof none may taste, except he be of the blood of ''Cingis Can''. Yea, the Tartars do these beasts great reverence, nor dare any cross their way, or go before them. According to the directions of his Astrologers or Magicians, he on the eight and twentieth day of August aforesaid, spendeth and poureth forth with his owne hands the milke of these Mares in the aire, and on the earth, to give drink to the spirits and Idols which they worship, that they may preserve the men, women, beasts, birds, corne, and other things growing on the earth.<ref>Holmes 1989 qtd. pp. 163-164</ref></blockquote>

The lines from Purchas, according to the Preface, inspired a dream in which Coleridge was provided a poem about Kubla Khan. Upon waking, he began to compose the 200 to 300 line poem, but he was interrupted by a man from Porlock . When the unidentified individual left, Coleridge was unable to continue ''Kubla Khan'' except for only a few of the lines and images he still retained. The second stanza of the poem, forming a conclusion, was composed at a later date and was possibly disconnected from the original dream.<ref>Perkins 2010 pp. 40-44</ref>

The lines from Purchas, according to the Preface, inspired a dream in which Coleridge was provided a poem about Kubla Khan. Upon waking, he began to compose the 200 to 300 line poem, but he was interrupted by a man from Porlock . When the unidentified individual left, Coleridge was unable to continue ''Kubla Khan'' except for only a few of the lines and images he still retained. The second stanza of the poem, forming a conclusion, was composed at a later date and was possibly disconnected from the original dream.<ref>Perkins 2010 pp. 40-44</ref>