Alexis Wraight

Introduction To Literature
John Sutton
29 January 2017
Kubla Khan: By Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Caves of ice in a sunny pleasure dome, a vision one could only have in
a dream. Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a highly praised literary
work, which has yet to be fully analyzed. Having fallen asleep in an opiuminduced coma, Samuel Coleridge woke to copy the visions he experienced in
his dream onto paper. Having been interrupted in the process, he lost his
magical vision and could not remember the fantasy that took place mere
hours before. This then led Samuel Coleridge to subtitle the poem; A
Fragment.
Our imagination is ever changing and it never ceases. We may have a
dream one evening, none the next, and then have the same dream nights
later. Perhaps some of our greatest thinking comes from our dreams when
our imagination is fully heightened and our mind is effortlessly creating an
alternate reality. The world may throw many interruptions in the way of our
imagination and inspiration, but that fire will never die.
This poem is heavily influenced by human imagination and the
thoughts we have while dreaming. In the real world there would never be a
cave of ice in the middle of a sunny sea. Our visions are not reality but
provide us with an escape from our responsibilities.

The last stanza of the poem states, For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise. This fragmented ending leads the readers to
wonder what is to come. Grammatically, a fragment must be attached to a
main clause in order for it to be complete. Therefore I believe that this poem
does not have a proper ending, as we are never done dreaming. If we were
done dreaming, our imagination would cease, and the world would be a dark,
dull place. That is why Samuel Coleridges Kubla Khan is so important,
because it places importance on the reader to never stop dreaming.