Kubla Khan

Lore & Background

The poem is divided into three irregular stanzas. The first describes Kublai Khan's capital Xanadu near the river Alph. The second describes a mysterious canyon with a hydrothermal explosion that forms the source of the sacred river. The third shifts to the speaker's first-person perspective, recalling a vision of a woman playing a dulcimer and imagining reviving the pleasure dome through music. Some of Coleridge's contemporaries denounced the poem and questioned his story of its origin. It was not until years later that critics began to openly admire it.

Reader's Guide

Kubla Khan holds a significant place in English literature as a prime example of Romanticism and as a work whose composition story has become legendary. The poem's origin—an opium-influenced dream interrupted by a person from Porlock—has been both questioned and celebrated, with the 'person on business from Porlock' becoming a term for interrupted genius. Though initially denounced by some contemporaries, the poem later gained critical admiration and is now frequently anthologized. Its three irregular stanzas move loosely between times and places, blending descriptions of Xanadu, a sacred river, and a visionary woman with a dulcimer. The poem's fragmentary nature and the mystery surrounding its composition have contributed to its enduring fascination. Critics have noted discrepancies in Coleridge's account, such as the unlikelihood of having a rare, heavy folio like Purchas his Pilgrimes at a lonely farmhouse, and the difference between the manuscript's mention of opium and the printed preface's euphemism of 'an anodyne.' Despite these disputes, Kubla Khan remains a cornerstone of Coleridge's poetic achievement.

Did You Know?

• The poem was composed after an opium-influenced dream while Coleridge was reading a work describing Xanadu, the summer capital of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty founded by Kublai Khan.
• Some of Coleridge's contemporaries denounced the poem and questioned his story of its origin.
• Most modern critics view Kubla Khan as one of Coleridge's three great poems, along with The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Christabel.