The Romantic view of the imagination in Coleridge’s Kubla Khan.

The aim of my essay is to illustrate the functions and representations of Romantic

imagination through Kubla Khan, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I shall use Coleridge’s
definitions of imagination and its types, as portrayed by himself in his work, Biographia
Literaria, particularly in the thirteenth chapter, On the imagination, or esemplastic power
(Coleridge).

I would like to begin with mentioning the types of imagination of which I will make use
in my essay, in relation with examples from the text. The first type is the primary imagination,
the living power and prime agent of all human perception (Coleridge, Chapter XIII), and it is the
impromptu production of distinct ideas. Coleridge attributes it to a higher power, a creator, as it
is not of human origin and the poet has no definite control over this type of imagination. In the
poem, it is the first four stanzas that convey the primary imagination (In Xanadu did Kubla
Khan/ A stately pleasure-dome decree […] – Coleridge, 55).

At the same time, a version of the secondary imagination is present from the very
beginning of the poem, given the mention of the circumstances under which the poem was
written – an opium-induced dream that led him to write the poem in a fast manner upon waking
up, in a dictée automatique. Thus, by writing something to which he was previously just a
spectator – the dream – Coleridge makes use of the secondary imagination, which is, in essence,
an imitation, an echo, a reflection of the previous type. It dissolves, diffuses, dissipates, in order
to recreate: or where this process is rendered impossible, yet still at all events it struggles to
idealize and to unify (Coleridge, Chapter XIII). The two forms of imagination are very much
alike, yet the secondary one differs in the sense that it brings limitations to the process of
creation. However, it is interesting to observe how the two different types of imagination coexist
in this part of the poem, in spite of the fact that they occur in different planes.

In the poem itself, the secondary imagination is embodied through the last stanza – A
damsel with a dulcimer/ In a vision once I saw (Coleridge, 57) Here is where the process of
reconstruction begins and where the conscious will is used, through the fact that the events of a
past situations are being recalled, remembered. Kubla Khan himself plays a role of a creator in
this part, and as the dome has been destroyed (The shadow of the dome of pleasure/ Floated
midway on the waves – Coleridge, 57) by forces of nature, it is now being recreated through
imagination, namely the secondary imagination, which attributes an esemplastic power
(Coleridge) to the poet. In addition, the image of Kubla Khan is reconstructed as well (His
flashing eyes, his floating hair – Coleridge, 58).

Coleridge also mentions the concept of Fancy (Chapter XIII), which only relates to
imagination by indicating the opposite – the lack of imagination. It does not involve creativity in
the sense of bringing something new into existence, as it only makes use of memory – The fancy
is indeed no other than a mode of memory emancipated from the order of time and space
(Coleridge, Chapter XIII) – and it emerges from plain fervor, being the origin of the most primal
and common of cravings. This concept is portrayed by the following lines:

Could I revive within me

Her symphony and song,

To such a deep delight ’twould win me (Coleridge, 58).

On the basis of the arguments stated above, I believe that Kubla Khan provides a
fundamental support for an observation and interpretation of the Romantic imagination, as it is
not only consistent with respect to Samuel T. Coleridge’s concept of imagination and fancy, but
also with the Romantic purpose of these ideas – surpassing reality, reassembling and
regenerating memory, and raising some emotional awareness in the reader – dēlectāre (Unknown
source/common knowledge). Moreover, although the poem was published in the beginning of the
19th century, it still proves to be a great device to interpreting not only Romantic concepts in the
historical sense, but also Arch-Romantic notions (Stefanescu).
 Works Cited

Coleridge, Samuel T. Biographia Literaria, published in 1817. Online-literature.com. Web. 25

May 2015. < http://www.online-literature.com/coleridge/biographia-literaria/13/>.

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. Christabel; Kubla Khan, a Vision; The Pains of Sleep. London:
Printed for J. Murray by W. Bulmer, 1816. Print.

< https://ia700408.us.archive.org/16/items/christabelkubla00colegoog/christabelkubla00colegoog.pdf >

Stefanescu, Bogdan. Romanticism: Between Forma Mentis and Historical Profile: Revising the
Epistemology of Romantic Studies. Bucuresti: Editura Universitatii Din Bucuresti, 2013. Print.