Today we have been discussing surrealism in writing with BA1A. Coleridge's Kubla Khan was mentioned as an example of a poem composed while sleeping. Jorge Luis Borges mentions that Kubla Khan had Xanadu built after dreaming about the palace, so Xanadu appears to be a place that first comes up in dreams for artists to work on. Interesting!
Here are the first lines of the poem:
- In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
- A stately pleasure-dome decree :
- Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
- Through caverns measureless to man
- Down to a sunless sea.
(lines 1-5) - Now look at a sample of the poet's writings on the left. How would you describe his personality by studying his handwriting? Was he arrogant, outgoing, intelligent, shy... ? Was he pessimistic or optimistic? Use what you learnt in today's class and try to guess.
You can read more about Samuel Taylor Coleridge here.
