Kubla Khan

For something different this week, I've decided to sort of live blog my reaction to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Kubla Khan." I've already listened to the poem once, but as I listen to it a second time, I'm going to pause and record my immediate feelings/reactions. Here goes nothing...

End of 1st complete verse: I would love to go to this pleasure dome place that Coleridge is describing. My initial thought is back to the commune on the Susquehanna, but not quite so westernized. Wherever he is describing is very much surrounded by nature, with the ground, gardens, trees and flowers.

Five lines into second verse: Here we go with the moon again. The "romantic chasm" I originally thought of as a scenery piece, which is may still be, but after reading "woman wailing for her demon-lover," maybe the chasm also alludes to a divide between the lady and her lover? Maybe that's too far reaching...

Four lines into third verse: This "shadow" floating on the waves gives me the idea of a daydream. Regardless of what else I've read so far, these few lines make me picture someone standing and watching a river or an ocean while daydreaming. They daydream about this pleasure dome, but now the daydream is floating away on the waves while reality comes back to the person.

End of poem: I think the "he" at the end is Kubla/speaker? It could just be an evil entity I suppose.

Final thoughts: Maybe I'm reading this poem wrong, but it doesn't seem to make sense to me. It sounds like one giant drug trip, which is possible with the kinds of drugs that Coleridge allegedly used. Ultimately, I think it's a story/dream or even multiple dreams that have all been connected and written about, and all revolve around the same topics. I think it may be an expansion on the commune idea, like he is internalizing his thoughts and this is what comes out in his dream state? Or maybe it's just the drugs.