"Kubla Khan" is fragmentary on one level (i.e., from a narrrowly literal point of view). However, from another perspective, it is a fully developed, organically complete and whole work which puts forth a logical, rational theme.
Some have seen the poem as being concerned with the problem of artistic creativity, while others have called it a hymn of praise to the imagination. Certainly it is a plea or prayer for creative energy, illustrating Coleridge's ability to organize material from a variety of sources. (See the information in your text's introduction to the poem.)
Coleridge's method is to furnish four examples of creative activity. Then he turns the poem to his own situation. This is a technique that we will see again in Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind," "To a Skylark," and "The Cloud."
The following sections of the poem reveal these four levels of creativity (the line numbers are indicated parenthetically):
Physical or literal creation (1-11)
Here we find a description of the construction of the pleasure-dome.
Cosmic creation (12-28)
In Neoplatonic lore (i.e., that which draws upon the ideas of Plato), the fountain
traditionally represents the emanation or overflow of the divine creative energy
of the universe.
The river comes from the great sea of being somewhere beneath the earth, and wherever the river touches brings life. The emanation and return of the river is the key image symbolizing this form of creation.
Another type of creation which is related to and derivative from the universal creation is human reproduction. Freudian interpreters of the poem have noted the "woman wailing" and drawn attention to the imagery of ejaculation, the bursting forth of semen which is deposited in the "lifeless ocean."
Mental creativity (31-36)
Coleridge refers to one's ability to be aware of his awareness. That is, the ability
of mind to think abstractly, to conceptualize. It is also a statement concerning
man's ability to intuit truth through the mind.
Natural, uncorrupted creativity (37-54)
Music and poetry are traditionally related. Here, he seems to be saying: "If
I could be as creative with words as she is in playing, I would build in the world
of the imagination." He would take us from the phenomenal (common, everyday
world) to the ideal.
The poem leaves us with a typically Romantic paradox: why would the author of a beautiful poem make a plea for, or lament the lack of, creative ability?
© Scott Foll 2000. All rights reserved.