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Coleridge and the Third Eye in “Kubla Khan”
 The “Third Eye” is a concept describing an inner part of the brain thatreaches a higher consciousness, and is manifested substantially in the poem“Kubla Khan” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Coleridge is renowned for hisworks being opium-induced, “pipe dreams,” they are called. Opium is ahallucinogen, and hallucinogens are known to be compared to opening upthe third eye. The third eye was a portal to visions, and the hallucinationgiven by opium is like a vision. The third eye was significant during theRomantic Period from both a philosophical perspective and a historicalperspective. Historically, during the time that this was written, somewherebetween 1797 and 1816, opium was rapidly increasing in its yields andbecoming an immensely popular drug. Philosophically, the effects of opiumare an aesthetic experience that induces intangible creativity and sublimity,which was a theme of the Romantic Era. Opium, of course, is a ratherextreme take on the concept of intangible beauty and creativity, but validnonetheless.“Kubla Khan” embraces the zeitgeist of Romanticism. It delineates on asurreal and awesome experience, particularly an aesthetic one, as thesetting is described as being extremely beautiful. The second section on thepoem emphasizes heavily on the beautiful features of the place. Alsoattributing to the Romantic Movement is the complete denial of reason innature. If the poem were to be taken literally, it would be impossible andparadoxical. Many impossible concepts are scenes are present andomnipresent, such as the endless river running through the endless caverns,and the walls and towers surrounding the entire place. In an endless place,having a surrounding structure is impossible. There is also the fact that adome covers the whole place, but the area is all sunny save for the sylvapatches and the icy caverns. Clearly since this is not a reasonable idea, itmust be a metaphor for something else in fear of the poem beingnonsensical. This neglect of ration and instead focus on aestheticism andfeeling is wholly a Romantic idea as opposed to a more rationalizedEnlightenment way of thinking. The paradoxical and poetical nature of the setting is further expandedupon. Again contradicting the “indoor” nature of the area, the ground is saidto be fertile. In fact, the entire place is summed up as “A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!” clearly very imaginative. Fertile land, forests, andice caves cannot all together exist within a close proximity to each other. Andeven less likely than they being in close proximity to each other would theybeing far from another, as this is all under one roof. Once again, this makesno rational sense.
 
Coleridge and the Third Eye in “Kubla Khan”
Xanadu, the name of the place where this opium-laced reverie occurs,has gained some cultural significance. It has been shown to be the apicalplace of beauty, but at the same time with some sort of underlying sinisterfeel. Though everything is pretty, with the flowers, shining sun, etc, there aresome contradictory imperfections. For instance, the “lifeless ocean” and the“sunless sea” are abnormal, but this time in a creepy sense instead of beingabnormal in a beautiful and positive sense. The strangely captivating placehas been referred to in many other things later on. A modern play calledXanadu, for instance, and the home of Charles Foster Kane (which is alsovery lavish and beautiful, yet sinister).Coleridge’s third eye is manifested best during the prophecy given tohim by his ancestors. In the setting is a great chasm which is described assavage and holy, “savage” meaning pure and untouched, is present. Thechasm is not of trepidation, but awesome and humbling, much like the rest of the place. From the endless chasm, a forceful geyser is shot out. Note againthe paradox: That a jet of water is coming out of something endlessly deep.Amid the tumult of the river, geyser and ocean, Khan’s ancestor appears tohim to give him a prophecy.Here is the apex of Coleridge’s third eye. His ancestor appearing to himto give him a prophecy is an elegant composition of imagination and divinetouch, as well as the inner mind. Prophecy is associated with a kind of higherlevel of consciousness, the third eye. The prophecy itself and the event of the prophecy being represented is, however, brief and vague. Curiouslyenough, “Ancestral voices prophesying war!” is the only line used.Furthermore, that is the only line in which it is an apostrophe, since there isanother character in which he is conversing with that is not wholly there. Toward the end of the poem, Xanadu is revealed to be Coleridge’smind. In no other place can this otherworldly existence possibly be depictedif not from the mind, particularly an opium-laced reverie. The dome andsurrounding structures of the place is his skull. Yet the endlessness of theplace represents his never-ending thoughts. The geyser represents a strike of inspiration, some unique, out-of (literally) nowhere jet of thoughts that opensthe third eye. More specifically, it is a metaphor for the opium rush. Thechasm that it comes from is the third eye itself, normally grand,unapproachable due to its greatness, and unutilized. The sinister beauty is also important to note. The entire place is ametaphor for how everything is beautiful during his hallucination, yet there issomething sinister lying underneath. Things aren’t quite right – quite natural,
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