Coleridge\'s \"Kubla Khan\" and \"The

Coleridge's "Kubla Khan" and "The Pains of Sleep"

Diving in to the poem, however, what key phrases or even single words work to create the dark mood of the gothic? List at least five phrases or single words. Images and words that are especially evocative of the gothic include "that deep romantic chasm," "woman wailing for her demon-lover," "the caverns measureless to man," "The shadow of the dome of pleasure / Floated midway on the waves," and "His flashing eyes, his floating hair!" All, in addition to being dark, have an air of the supernatural about them, 2) if a male friend of yours retold this dream and asked for an interpretation what would you say? First, I would suggest he try to sleep sober more often. Then, I would suggest that perhaps he feels as though he's under too much pressure to succeed and build his own palace, and that he lusts after things that he know in his heart are unattainable because they don't really exist.

Are these lyrics as, or even more, dependent on a drug-induced hallucination? Are they just as dark? The lyrics of the song are far more symbolic and harder to figure out. They may be darker, but really they are just more cynical than the poem is. Neither work gives an entrance that makes meaning clear; everything must be inferred by the reader. Whether its drugs or simply perspective, these poems are dependent on the mental states of their authors, and do not translate well.

4) but is it so simple? What, ultimately, does the poem leave unresolved? What questions remain unanswered? The poem never addresses the nature of the speaker's sin that so wracks him with guilt, and the end provides even more provocation by introducing the speaker's love without actually describing her. We do not know why the speaker's sleep is so disturbed, the nature of his guile, the nature of the monsters that visit him in his dream or the nature of his love that seems to provide him some relief -- in short, we know almost nothing.

5) How does the psychology of the dreamer in "The Pains of Sleep" differ from "Kubla Kahn"? Conversely, how is the psychology similar? Both speakers have confused visions; a jumble of images confronts them and pours out of them at the same time. However the speaker in "The Pains of Sleep" seems to have a much firmer grip on reality in his waking hours, whereas that of "Kubla Khan" persists in deluding himself even when not strictly in the vision, with his imaginings of the dome in the air.

Clare's "A Vision," "I Am," and "An Invite to Eternity"

1) How is "A Vision" similar to "Kubla Kahn" in mood and tone? What specific word choices lead to this similarity? Words like "glow," "flame," "faded," and "eternal ray" all contribute to the same sort of ethereal tone as "Kubla Khan." He supernatural quality is signified in both poems by a sense of auras; of things emanating their presence beyond their physical boundaries. These words are some of the specific indicators of that phenomenon in this poem.

2) How do you interpret the last stanza of "A Vision"? How does it relate to the prior stanza? In context with the preceding stanza, where the speaker "loved but woman fell away," the last stanza's "immortal birth" and the spirit kept free may refer to chastity and virginity. This also fits with the "spurned lust of earth" the speaker mentions in the first stanza, tying the poem together.

3) How does Clare take the idea of peaceful rest further than Coleridge? What does he add? Clare adds a complete sense of "nothingness" and solitude to his poem craving rest, as opposed to Coleridge who finds his comfort in love (of another person) and the replacement of bad feeling with good. Clare also brings in the concept of God, whom he wants as his only companion.