Kubla Khan and Coleridge's handwriting

Welcome to the first post of this course.

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.