7/23/2019 Essay - Coleridges contrastive elements in Kubla Khan

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Tomislav Sari

Professor Ljubica Matek

Survey of English Literature II

2 May 2!1

"oleri#ge$s contrastive elements inKubla Khan

It is sai# that the beauty is in the eye of the behol#er% &ut 'hat #oes the behol#er 'ant

to say 'hen #escribing that beauty( Samuel Taylor "oleri#ge #i# in#ee# 'rite about beauty in

his o'n 'ay% )e belongs to the *omantic +erio# of English literature% )e is one of the most

famous English 'riters an# literary critics% In this essay I 'ill try to +rove that "oleri#ge

intentionally uses strong contrastive elements in or#er to #escribe the e,otic an# #istant -rient

inKubla Khan%

ThePreface to .ubla .han serves +rece#es the +oem itself% "oleri#ge e,+lains the

event that le# to creation of the +oem% -+ium/influence#0 'ith his e,ternal senses slee+ing0 he

receives visions connecte# to the 'or#s of the same substance0 in Purchas$s Pilgrimage$3

)ere the .ubla .han comman#e# a +alace to be built0 an# a stately gar#en thereunto% 4n#

thus ten miles of fertile groun# 'ere inclose# 'ith a 'all%5 6"oleri#ge0 17 The +ur+ose of the

+reface is not overtly mentione#% Therefore0 it can be observe# as assistance for the rea#er not

accustome# to the backgroun# information an# the author$s very thoughts3

The intro#uctory note gui#es our rea#ing of the +oem from start to finish% 8ithout it0

most rea#ers 'oul# inter+ret the +oem as asserting the +o'er an# +otential sublimity

of the +oet0 'ho can be com+are# to the great .han% 8ith the intro#uctory note0 this

assertion is still +resent0 but it is strongly un#ercut9 the +oem becomes richer an# more

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com+le,0 an# the theme of lost ins+iration is much more heavily 'eighte#% 6&loom0

:17

The most contrastive element of the Preface is that it is0 though elaborate0 subtitle#3 4

;ragment%5 The +oem itself is not to be consi#ere# as a fragment0 because it is a full an#

com+lete unit 'ith various stylistic elements0 motifs an# figures% )o'ever0 the em+hasis

shoul# be +ut on the +oem0 because thePreface is only there to hel+ the rea#er to com+rehen#

the +oem in a #ee+er 'ay% &efore any other arguments are inclu#e#0 it shoul# be mentione#

that "oleri#ge$s inter+retation of the -rient is influence# by Purchas0 an# Purchas$s

inter+retation of abovementione# -rient is #ominantly influence# by Marco Polo%

The element of #istance shoul# be also taken into account% "oleri#ge intentionally

mentions the location of contem+lating on .ubla .han0 because he 'ants to accentuate the

#istance to the rea#er% The most obvious e,am+les are these re+resenting the most #istant

lan#s% In his min# he goes all the 'ay from a lonely farm/house bet'een Porlock an#

Linton5 6"oleri#ge0 17 to ?/:>7

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This time0 there is no 'or# about 4sia0 an# the names an# lan#marks mentione# refer to

4byssinia0 'hat is to#ay kno'n as Ethio+ia an# Eritrea% There are t'o continents covertly

mentione# in the +oem0 4sia an# 4frica0 an# the first one0 Euro+e0 is mentione# in the

Preface.It sums u+ to three continents @ three #istinctive 'orl#s0 each one #ifferent from the

+revious one% ;or instance0 river 4l+h from the first +art an# Mount 4bora from the secon#

+art of the +oem are Auite o++osite in sha+e an# atmos+here%

8hen it comes to sublime0 "oleri#ge 'as one of the most e,+erience# *omantic

'riters0 maybe the very best of them% )e uses sublime on all occasions0 'henever +ossible%

Therefore0 sublimity of lan#sca+e shoul# be also mentione#0 as if it bears another contrastive

element in the +oem% Be+icting the scenery beautiful0 enchanting0 alluring an# enticing an#

then making it scary an# #angerous is something common for "oleri#ge% ;urthermore0 these

figurations an# any similar figurations are sim+ly "oleri#ge$s mo#us o+eran#i0 as it can be

seen in various +laces of the +oem% Callins e,+lains his interest in lan#sca+es3

"oleri#ge$s enthusiasm for lan#sca+esDan# +rimarily0 of course0 for mountainous

onesDis0 in other 'or#s0 essentially youthful in character%%%% In many cases0 in#ee#0

"oleri#ge visits or e,+lores mountainous regions literally as an aesthetic tourist0 an#

his #escri+tions of those lan#sca+es are often attem+ts to achieve an almost +ictorial

vivi#ness an# #etail in recor#ing his e,+eriences%5 6Callins0 >7

4n# such is the case in theKubla Khan% There are gar#ens bright 'ith sinuous rills = F =

4n# here 'ere forests ancient as the hills0 = enfol#ing sunny s+ots of greenery%5 6"oleri#ge0

G0H01!7 an# ne,t to it0 only three lines later0 the same +lace again0 but no' it turns into 4

savage +lace as holy an# enchante# = 4s e$er beneath a 'aning moon 'as haunte# = &y

'oman 'ailing for her #emon/lover5 6"oleri#ge0 1>/17 Such figurations0 'ith such tone

an# atmos+here0 enrich the language an# make lan# mentione# more attractive% )o'ever0

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Macmillan #oes not reach the contrastive element of the sublime% &loom0 on the other han#0

e,+lains that contrastive element to some e,tent3

the essence 'hich these s+len#i# vistas half/conceal an# half/reveal0 is often im+lie# in

"oleri#ge$s fascinate# investigation of the emotional an# intuitive significance of his aesthetic

e,+eriences of lan#sca+eF It 'ill also come to have its limitations for him0 an# ultimately be

re+lace# by an e,+loration of the +sychological an# meta+hysical truths un#erlying these

e,+eriences% That this change shoul# ultimately have occurre#0 in#ee#0 is +erha+s all the more

com+rehensible in an author 'ho so +ersistently em+hasiJes the im+ortance of never

remaining satisfie# 'ith a single inter+retation or conclusion0 an# es+ecially of Auestioning

a++earances$ an# investigating their foun#ations%5 6&loom0 >G7

4ll elements taken into account0 it is safe to say that Samuel Taylor "oleri#ge #oes

really use the various contrasts inKubla Khanintentionally in or#er to #escribe the #istant

an# e,otic -rient% ;irst of all0 contrast0 even though not #ominant0 but still +resent0 bet'een

thePreface an# the +oem itself% It is to be +erceive# as an e,+lanatory note0 but the subtitle

;ragment5 is o++ose# to the com+leteness of the +oem0 an# suggests that the author is

ca+able of even bigger literary e,+loits in the same manner% Secon# to it0 there is a contrastive

element in the #istances an# in the 'ay #istant lan#s are intro#uce#3 There is an author in

Englan# that reminiscences about a +leasure #ome in 7

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8orks "ite#

"oleri#ge0 Samuel Taylor%Kubla Khan. n.p.Khtt+%moo#le%ffos%hr=

Sai#0 E#'ar#% Orientalism% Lon#on3 Penguin 1HGG% 8eb +ublication%

&loom0 )arol#% Samuel Taylor Coleridge.e' Nork3 Infobase Publishing%2!1!%

8eb +ublication%

Callins0 Bavi#% Coleridges Writings On the Sublime )am+shire3 Palgrave Macmillan% 2!!1%

8eb +ublication%