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I agree entirely with the two comments below, The explication should be cut, since its purely opinion and adds no information about the poem. SiefkinDR ( talk) 06:30, 18 August 2013 (UTC)
This article is several times as long as long as the poem. "one could as well, methinks, wring a flood froma a damp clout!" — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hypnopomp ( talk • contribs) 20:57, 17 August 2013 (UTC)
This page contains within it an attempted explication of the poem that presents as true and factual its assumptions about the meaning of the work. This is completely uncalled for in any explicatory setting, much less a supposedly unbiased encyclopedic article. I have not seen this kind of treatment elsewhere in Wikipedia in regards to any poetic work. I think the line-by-line explanation should be removed, or at least presented as a highly subjective (and hardly accurate) interpretation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.76.16.15 ( talk) 02:40, 25 August 2010 (UTC)
The "Themes" section is also pretty awful, starting with a rather bold claim stated as fact, when this entire section is interpretation. I'll plan to come back some day and wrassle this gator down, too. --Mr. Stein ( talk) 01:43, 24 October 2010 (UTC)
I'm going to note that the interpretation section completely omits any mention of the sexual interpretation of Kubla Khan, a major and meaningful category of scholarly interpretation.. If there is to be a section devoted to interpretation, it should at least be comprehensive. John Schulien ( talk) 20:43, 7 September 2013 (UTC)
Kubla Khan is described as a Chinese emperor. Not true. Getting rid of that statement. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.19.14.92 ( talk) 14:13, 15 July 2008 (UTC)
Kublai Khan was not Chinese, nor was he a Tatar. All the references to Tatars in the article are incorrect. Please see the relevant articles on Kublai Khan and Tatars. SiefkinDR ( talk) 15:14, 10 November 2011 (UTC)
Why not put the full text of the poem here instead of an external link? Since it was published in 1816 there shouldn't be a copyright issue? RedWolf 17:51, Dec 2, 2003 (UTC)
This article seems to condemn the man. Why the tone of disbelief? Did Coleridge have a reputation for dishonesty? Or is it just a reaction to his drug addiction? The phrase "Coleridge claimed" apears twice in the article. As does the phrase "This claim seems unlikely". What motivation would Coleridge have to bend the truth. It seems narrow minded to assume that "A Vision in a Dream" is a reference to a "dream" in the literal sense. Did Coleridge explicitly state that he was sleeping? Please elucidate.
I've removed the reference to Douglas Adams' "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency". The poem used in that book is actually The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Wightpants 14:10, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
But now there are two references, one near the top and one near the bottom! I like the book, but I think there should be only one reference. -- 71.125.9.240 05:39, 25 July 2006 (UTC) What THE HELL is goign on guys! Com'on, this can't be serious... DAMN IT
I think it is very important to note that it was NOT Coleridge himself who talks about the Opium induced dream. This was added later by an editor about 78 years after Coleridge's death in a book entitled "Complete Poetical Works". Coleridge's original note was:
"This fragment with a good deal more, not recoverable, composed, in a sort of Reverie brought on by two grains of Opium taken to check a dysentery, at a Farm House between Porlock & Linton, a quarter of a mile from Culbone Church, in the fall of the year, 1797."
A reverie does not mean he was asleep, so the part about the claim being "unlikely" isn't very fair to the original author of the poem.
There was also no mention of a "person from Porlock" in this original note.
-Anonymous, April 10th, 2006.
The preface WAS written by Coleridge. It appeared when the poem was first published in 1816. One of the reasons there is some skepticism about the preface is that the story it tells is different from that in the note quoted above. Bill 11:51, 20 June 2006 (UTC)
Is there a possibility that the last section - "A damsel with a dulcimer" etc - was added prior to publication in 1816, and that "Mount Abora" is actually Mount Tambora, which erupted with spectacular effect in 1815?
I've reinstated the use in popular culture section, because the rather large revision was not discussed, and some popular references have returned now, so it would be 'unfair' to include only these and not others. -- C mon 15:20, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
Sorry but this page seems of little value. There is no significant discussion, explanation or elucidation of the poem. It appears to be merely a depository for tabloid infotainment trivial popular culture references. Worthy of an encyclopedia entry? Not in any way in my opinion. Trash it all and start again. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.189.130.13 ( talk • contribs) .
One of the Wikipedia's great strengths is that it treats popular culture as if it matters (whereas other more *serious* encyclopedic tomes may deem popular culture too trivial to discuss.)
I have loved this poem for many years. It was fascinating to find out in this article about how much its tone and its content has influenced creative persons in literature, film-making and music. Mfgreen 02:10, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
i know this discussion's closed but i really need to find the name of a french animated film which features this poem recited - in french - and the setting is tibet. there's a shaman dancing in the background and these two frenchmen - military explorers/adventurers in tibet probably in the late 19th c - share this poem inside the tent.. Brihas1 ( talk) 20:25, 18 May 2012 (UTC)
I removed the extensive section of references to the poem in popular culture. There is no value to such a section; as has been mentioned above, this poem is quite famous and frequently referenced. It took up half the article. If any of the trivia should be kept, it should be incorporated into the article rather than a list.-- Cúchullain t/ c 18:57, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
The link to the full-length text of the poem appears to be a link to a university library viewable only to those with access privelages. I dont want to remove the link yet -- does it work for anyone else? 204.13.204.194 ( talk) 20:22, 26 November 2007 (UTC)
I've removed this text from Xanadu which appears to be contradicted here.
The reported splendour of Xanadu later inspired Samuel Taylor Coleridge to write his great poem Kubla Khan and caused Xanadu to become a metaphor for opulence. Xanadu is remembered today largely thanks to this poem, which contains the following often quoted lines: (poem) Coleridge used artistic license with his poem, and few aspects of the description are in evidence at the actual site. The author claimed that his composition was suggested by a line in Purchas His Pilgrimage. --- MickMacNee ( talk) 23:15, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
The description of Xanadu in the poem was inspired by the description in the Purchas book, which was directly inspired by the account of Marco Polo, who described Xanadu in detail, including the wall and the gardens. If you compare the descriptions, so see a direct connection between the Marco Polo and the Coleridge. I think this should be included in the article. SiefkinDR ( talk) 15:19, 10 November 2011 (UTC)
I wonder if anyone has remarked on the somewhat paradoxical juxtaposition of xanadu which is in the orient, with the river alph, which is according to conventional esoteric tradition definitely occidental? -- Cimon Avaro; on a pogostick. ( talk) 10:28, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
I hate to bring this up, but my English class thought this poem had sexual themes in it... Does it? :-/ -- HoopoeBaijiKite 07:49, 29 May 2009 (UTC)
I just merged the longer work from simple:User:Ottava Rima/Kubla Khan. The original comments and sources seem to be included in that longer article. – SJ + 03:24, 22 June 2010 (UTC)
The unsourced statement in the lead that the manuscript is on display at the British Museum is probably incorrect: most of the museum's books and manuscripts were moved to the newly-founded British Library in, I think, the 1990s. The assertion needs support from a recent source, which I have been unable to find. Celuici ( talk) 15:24, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
AndyJSmith is quite right to correct the name of the Purchas book from 'Pilgrimage' to 'Pilgrimes', and thank you for doing that; but I believe that as a result you are misquoting Coleridge, who had the title wrong. Can you give the correct quotation from Coleridge, and then note in parenthesis that that he had it wrong? I would hate to see Wikipedia editing Coleridge's words, even if they're wrong. Thanks for your good work! SiefkinDR ( talk) 20:01, 3 September 2014 (UTC)
I'm not sure (a) why the title of the article is italicized or (b) why the full title of the poem (including subtitle) is not given in the lead sentence. According to MOS:QUOTETITLE, titles of short poems are not italicized but instead are set off in quotes. As "Kubla Kahn" is not an epic poem like the Iliad or Paradise Lost, but is of comparable length to most other short poems and songs, the italics are improper here. I've traced the faulty change to this edit by User:Sj back in June 2010, which, apparently, nobody ever bothered to challenge. I respectfully propose the article title italics be removed, the poem title be quotated in the article rather than italicized, and the lead be revised to give the full title of the poem as "Kubla Khan; or, A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment". Robert K S ( talk) 17:44, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
Is this an example of orientalism, and are there references to cite showing that? Mercurywoodrose ( talk) 07:43, 4 February 2016 (UTC)
I had a two-semester graduate course on English Romantic Poetry from Earl Wasserman at Johns Hopkins in 1964-65. Keats was half of one semester. I don’t remember his words, but I came away with the clear impression that the poem is full of erotic images, primarily of the female genitals. The sacred river, through caverns measureless to man, to a sunless sea: the vagina. Surrounded by fertile ground and incense-bearing trees. The chasm slanted down the hill... a savage place! Holy and enchanted. Fast thick pants, a mighty fountain erupts, producing the sacred river, that runs to the sunless sea. And then it’s connected with violence!
Also, that the poem is complete, that the interruption by the person from Porlock was, and there’s a reference in the article on him, fictitious.
I am in no position to say if there is anything to this, as 1965 ended my study of English literature. But it has stuck with me. deisenbe ( talk) 21:09, 8 July 2018 (UTC)
There is a lot of very excellent information in this article, but I can't help but feel it is shortchanged by a confusing organization and redundancy. Surely the "Theories about the preface and writing" section belongs with the "Writing" and "Publication" sections? "Sources" and "Sources – Purchas and Marco Polo" should not be so far apart? I also think the best information (e.g., some of the great comparisons to the Crewe manuscript) would shine more clearly if things were cut down to be more concise. I'd like to start putting on organizing and condensing this article, looking at the Featured Articles Ode on a Grecian Urn and The Raven as models. I'm currently imagining a structure something like this:
I think many bits are currently in the wrong place, eg, the first sentence of "Critical response" is "According to some critics, the second stanza of the poem, forming a conclusion, was composed at a later date and was possibly disconnected from the original dream." -- but that has nothing to do with the response to the poem, it belongs in the "composition and publication" section. Other parts of the "Critical response" probably belong as analysis of the poem. So I think putting things into this structure will reveal a lot of duplicated information; removing those duplications will improve the article substantially. I hesitate to make such major structural changes to such a well-established and trafficked article on my own, however. Are there arguments for other ways of organizing, or for not re-organizing? Should I revise in draftspace rather than the article mainspace, and then see if the new version is an improvement? Or is it better to do it "in public" and gradually so others can evaluate each change? ~ oulfis 🌸( talk) 21:12, 21 January 2020 (UTC)
February update: I've made my second BOLD chance to the article, removing the lengthly explication of the poem and replacing it with a synopsis. My goal with the synopsis was to avoid anything that would constitute interpretation, including things like trying to described a chronology of events or identify who ambiguous pronouns are referring to. Please let me know if you disagree with that approach, or don't think I have succeeded at it. The previous poem summary actually seemed, to me, to make a decent paragraph on its themes, so I've put it there for now -- though the themes section definitely needs a major clean-up. My current plan is to finish cutting down the "reception" section and then do the themes and style. (I'm doing it in that order because a lot of the bulk of the reception section is really interpretation of themes/style, so I want to extract all that material before I start organizing it -- the stuff I cut is being saved in my userspace draft.) I also moved the poem itself to a quote box, but I'm not sure if it's really appropriate... it's so much longer than the synopsis section! So I'd also love to hear thoughts on what to do with the poem. ~ oulfis 🌸( talk) 21:38, 8 February 2020 (UTC)
"Composition and Publication" section might be better called something along the lines of "production" or "synthesis"? heber89471 ( talk) 6:20, 16 April 2021 (UTC)
Wow so many sexual themes in this poem; I did not know how to make note of it politely. Gonna go try to work it out on my own right now Electricmic ( talk) 19:09, 6 December 2020 (UTC)
LEvalyn Although I agree that the poem may have been too long to be quoted in its entirety, I think it would be valuable to restore the sidebox as you suggested. I find it quite informative and useful to include it directly in the article. And since the poem it is not that long and the box does not take up much space, I see no reason not to bring it back. Best regards, 92.34.133.162 ( talk) 16:44, 14 May 2022 (UTC)
I think the suggested pronunciation of the poem's title is unhelpful. An inspection of the rhymes shows that Coleridge almost certainly pronounced "Khan" as the English word "can." The pronunciation guide suggests that Khan have the a of "father." One can say that this is "standard" now, but that is irrelevant ( "Kubla" is no longer the standard form either) and the guide merely distracts (and detracts) from the poetic effect of the work. It would be better to have no pronunciation guide at all. 71.245.188.249 ( talk) 01:54, 22 June 2023 (UTC)
The poem is usually published with Coleridge’s writings on how he composed it and why it wasn’t finished, right? I’m assuming that’s why the title for a 54-line poem is italicized. Eyeluvbraixen ( talk) 07:11, 15 September 2023 (UTC)
| ||||||||||
A fact from this article appeared on Wikipedia's
Main Page in the "
Did you know?" column on
July 2, 2010. The text of the entry was: Did you know ... that when
John Livingston Lowes taught
Kubla Khan, he told his class "If there is any man in the history of literature who should be hanged, drawn, and quartered, it is the man on business from Porlock."? | ||||||||||
Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the " On this day..." column on May 25, 2018, and May 25, 2021. |
This
level-5 vital article is rated B-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | |||||||||||
|
I agree entirely with the two comments below, The explication should be cut, since its purely opinion and adds no information about the poem. SiefkinDR ( talk) 06:30, 18 August 2013 (UTC)
This article is several times as long as long as the poem. "one could as well, methinks, wring a flood froma a damp clout!" — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hypnopomp ( talk • contribs) 20:57, 17 August 2013 (UTC)
This page contains within it an attempted explication of the poem that presents as true and factual its assumptions about the meaning of the work. This is completely uncalled for in any explicatory setting, much less a supposedly unbiased encyclopedic article. I have not seen this kind of treatment elsewhere in Wikipedia in regards to any poetic work. I think the line-by-line explanation should be removed, or at least presented as a highly subjective (and hardly accurate) interpretation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.76.16.15 ( talk) 02:40, 25 August 2010 (UTC)
The "Themes" section is also pretty awful, starting with a rather bold claim stated as fact, when this entire section is interpretation. I'll plan to come back some day and wrassle this gator down, too. --Mr. Stein ( talk) 01:43, 24 October 2010 (UTC)
I'm going to note that the interpretation section completely omits any mention of the sexual interpretation of Kubla Khan, a major and meaningful category of scholarly interpretation.. If there is to be a section devoted to interpretation, it should at least be comprehensive. John Schulien ( talk) 20:43, 7 September 2013 (UTC)
Kubla Khan is described as a Chinese emperor. Not true. Getting rid of that statement. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.19.14.92 ( talk) 14:13, 15 July 2008 (UTC)
Kublai Khan was not Chinese, nor was he a Tatar. All the references to Tatars in the article are incorrect. Please see the relevant articles on Kublai Khan and Tatars. SiefkinDR ( talk) 15:14, 10 November 2011 (UTC)
Why not put the full text of the poem here instead of an external link? Since it was published in 1816 there shouldn't be a copyright issue? RedWolf 17:51, Dec 2, 2003 (UTC)
This article seems to condemn the man. Why the tone of disbelief? Did Coleridge have a reputation for dishonesty? Or is it just a reaction to his drug addiction? The phrase "Coleridge claimed" apears twice in the article. As does the phrase "This claim seems unlikely". What motivation would Coleridge have to bend the truth. It seems narrow minded to assume that "A Vision in a Dream" is a reference to a "dream" in the literal sense. Did Coleridge explicitly state that he was sleeping? Please elucidate.
I've removed the reference to Douglas Adams' "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency". The poem used in that book is actually The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Wightpants 14:10, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
But now there are two references, one near the top and one near the bottom! I like the book, but I think there should be only one reference. -- 71.125.9.240 05:39, 25 July 2006 (UTC) What THE HELL is goign on guys! Com'on, this can't be serious... DAMN IT
I think it is very important to note that it was NOT Coleridge himself who talks about the Opium induced dream. This was added later by an editor about 78 years after Coleridge's death in a book entitled "Complete Poetical Works". Coleridge's original note was:
"This fragment with a good deal more, not recoverable, composed, in a sort of Reverie brought on by two grains of Opium taken to check a dysentery, at a Farm House between Porlock & Linton, a quarter of a mile from Culbone Church, in the fall of the year, 1797."
A reverie does not mean he was asleep, so the part about the claim being "unlikely" isn't very fair to the original author of the poem.
There was also no mention of a "person from Porlock" in this original note.
-Anonymous, April 10th, 2006.
The preface WAS written by Coleridge. It appeared when the poem was first published in 1816. One of the reasons there is some skepticism about the preface is that the story it tells is different from that in the note quoted above. Bill 11:51, 20 June 2006 (UTC)
Is there a possibility that the last section - "A damsel with a dulcimer" etc - was added prior to publication in 1816, and that "Mount Abora" is actually Mount Tambora, which erupted with spectacular effect in 1815?
I've reinstated the use in popular culture section, because the rather large revision was not discussed, and some popular references have returned now, so it would be 'unfair' to include only these and not others. -- C mon 15:20, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
Sorry but this page seems of little value. There is no significant discussion, explanation or elucidation of the poem. It appears to be merely a depository for tabloid infotainment trivial popular culture references. Worthy of an encyclopedia entry? Not in any way in my opinion. Trash it all and start again. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.189.130.13 ( talk • contribs) .
One of the Wikipedia's great strengths is that it treats popular culture as if it matters (whereas other more *serious* encyclopedic tomes may deem popular culture too trivial to discuss.)
I have loved this poem for many years. It was fascinating to find out in this article about how much its tone and its content has influenced creative persons in literature, film-making and music. Mfgreen 02:10, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
i know this discussion's closed but i really need to find the name of a french animated film which features this poem recited - in french - and the setting is tibet. there's a shaman dancing in the background and these two frenchmen - military explorers/adventurers in tibet probably in the late 19th c - share this poem inside the tent.. Brihas1 ( talk) 20:25, 18 May 2012 (UTC)
I removed the extensive section of references to the poem in popular culture. There is no value to such a section; as has been mentioned above, this poem is quite famous and frequently referenced. It took up half the article. If any of the trivia should be kept, it should be incorporated into the article rather than a list.-- Cúchullain t/ c 18:57, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
The link to the full-length text of the poem appears to be a link to a university library viewable only to those with access privelages. I dont want to remove the link yet -- does it work for anyone else? 204.13.204.194 ( talk) 20:22, 26 November 2007 (UTC)
I've removed this text from Xanadu which appears to be contradicted here.
The reported splendour of Xanadu later inspired Samuel Taylor Coleridge to write his great poem Kubla Khan and caused Xanadu to become a metaphor for opulence. Xanadu is remembered today largely thanks to this poem, which contains the following often quoted lines: (poem) Coleridge used artistic license with his poem, and few aspects of the description are in evidence at the actual site. The author claimed that his composition was suggested by a line in Purchas His Pilgrimage. --- MickMacNee ( talk) 23:15, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
The description of Xanadu in the poem was inspired by the description in the Purchas book, which was directly inspired by the account of Marco Polo, who described Xanadu in detail, including the wall and the gardens. If you compare the descriptions, so see a direct connection between the Marco Polo and the Coleridge. I think this should be included in the article. SiefkinDR ( talk) 15:19, 10 November 2011 (UTC)
I wonder if anyone has remarked on the somewhat paradoxical juxtaposition of xanadu which is in the orient, with the river alph, which is according to conventional esoteric tradition definitely occidental? -- Cimon Avaro; on a pogostick. ( talk) 10:28, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
I hate to bring this up, but my English class thought this poem had sexual themes in it... Does it? :-/ -- HoopoeBaijiKite 07:49, 29 May 2009 (UTC)
I just merged the longer work from simple:User:Ottava Rima/Kubla Khan. The original comments and sources seem to be included in that longer article. – SJ + 03:24, 22 June 2010 (UTC)
The unsourced statement in the lead that the manuscript is on display at the British Museum is probably incorrect: most of the museum's books and manuscripts were moved to the newly-founded British Library in, I think, the 1990s. The assertion needs support from a recent source, which I have been unable to find. Celuici ( talk) 15:24, 27 August 2012 (UTC)
AndyJSmith is quite right to correct the name of the Purchas book from 'Pilgrimage' to 'Pilgrimes', and thank you for doing that; but I believe that as a result you are misquoting Coleridge, who had the title wrong. Can you give the correct quotation from Coleridge, and then note in parenthesis that that he had it wrong? I would hate to see Wikipedia editing Coleridge's words, even if they're wrong. Thanks for your good work! SiefkinDR ( talk) 20:01, 3 September 2014 (UTC)
I'm not sure (a) why the title of the article is italicized or (b) why the full title of the poem (including subtitle) is not given in the lead sentence. According to MOS:QUOTETITLE, titles of short poems are not italicized but instead are set off in quotes. As "Kubla Kahn" is not an epic poem like the Iliad or Paradise Lost, but is of comparable length to most other short poems and songs, the italics are improper here. I've traced the faulty change to this edit by User:Sj back in June 2010, which, apparently, nobody ever bothered to challenge. I respectfully propose the article title italics be removed, the poem title be quotated in the article rather than italicized, and the lead be revised to give the full title of the poem as "Kubla Khan; or, A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment". Robert K S ( talk) 17:44, 7 January 2015 (UTC)
Is this an example of orientalism, and are there references to cite showing that? Mercurywoodrose ( talk) 07:43, 4 February 2016 (UTC)
I had a two-semester graduate course on English Romantic Poetry from Earl Wasserman at Johns Hopkins in 1964-65. Keats was half of one semester. I don’t remember his words, but I came away with the clear impression that the poem is full of erotic images, primarily of the female genitals. The sacred river, through caverns measureless to man, to a sunless sea: the vagina. Surrounded by fertile ground and incense-bearing trees. The chasm slanted down the hill... a savage place! Holy and enchanted. Fast thick pants, a mighty fountain erupts, producing the sacred river, that runs to the sunless sea. And then it’s connected with violence!
Also, that the poem is complete, that the interruption by the person from Porlock was, and there’s a reference in the article on him, fictitious.
I am in no position to say if there is anything to this, as 1965 ended my study of English literature. But it has stuck with me. deisenbe ( talk) 21:09, 8 July 2018 (UTC)
There is a lot of very excellent information in this article, but I can't help but feel it is shortchanged by a confusing organization and redundancy. Surely the "Theories about the preface and writing" section belongs with the "Writing" and "Publication" sections? "Sources" and "Sources – Purchas and Marco Polo" should not be so far apart? I also think the best information (e.g., some of the great comparisons to the Crewe manuscript) would shine more clearly if things were cut down to be more concise. I'd like to start putting on organizing and condensing this article, looking at the Featured Articles Ode on a Grecian Urn and The Raven as models. I'm currently imagining a structure something like this:
I think many bits are currently in the wrong place, eg, the first sentence of "Critical response" is "According to some critics, the second stanza of the poem, forming a conclusion, was composed at a later date and was possibly disconnected from the original dream." -- but that has nothing to do with the response to the poem, it belongs in the "composition and publication" section. Other parts of the "Critical response" probably belong as analysis of the poem. So I think putting things into this structure will reveal a lot of duplicated information; removing those duplications will improve the article substantially. I hesitate to make such major structural changes to such a well-established and trafficked article on my own, however. Are there arguments for other ways of organizing, or for not re-organizing? Should I revise in draftspace rather than the article mainspace, and then see if the new version is an improvement? Or is it better to do it "in public" and gradually so others can evaluate each change? ~ oulfis 🌸( talk) 21:12, 21 January 2020 (UTC)
February update: I've made my second BOLD chance to the article, removing the lengthly explication of the poem and replacing it with a synopsis. My goal with the synopsis was to avoid anything that would constitute interpretation, including things like trying to described a chronology of events or identify who ambiguous pronouns are referring to. Please let me know if you disagree with that approach, or don't think I have succeeded at it. The previous poem summary actually seemed, to me, to make a decent paragraph on its themes, so I've put it there for now -- though the themes section definitely needs a major clean-up. My current plan is to finish cutting down the "reception" section and then do the themes and style. (I'm doing it in that order because a lot of the bulk of the reception section is really interpretation of themes/style, so I want to extract all that material before I start organizing it -- the stuff I cut is being saved in my userspace draft.) I also moved the poem itself to a quote box, but I'm not sure if it's really appropriate... it's so much longer than the synopsis section! So I'd also love to hear thoughts on what to do with the poem. ~ oulfis 🌸( talk) 21:38, 8 February 2020 (UTC)
"Composition and Publication" section might be better called something along the lines of "production" or "synthesis"? heber89471 ( talk) 6:20, 16 April 2021 (UTC)
Wow so many sexual themes in this poem; I did not know how to make note of it politely. Gonna go try to work it out on my own right now Electricmic ( talk) 19:09, 6 December 2020 (UTC)
LEvalyn Although I agree that the poem may have been too long to be quoted in its entirety, I think it would be valuable to restore the sidebox as you suggested. I find it quite informative and useful to include it directly in the article. And since the poem it is not that long and the box does not take up much space, I see no reason not to bring it back. Best regards, 92.34.133.162 ( talk) 16:44, 14 May 2022 (UTC)
I think the suggested pronunciation of the poem's title is unhelpful. An inspection of the rhymes shows that Coleridge almost certainly pronounced "Khan" as the English word "can." The pronunciation guide suggests that Khan have the a of "father." One can say that this is "standard" now, but that is irrelevant ( "Kubla" is no longer the standard form either) and the guide merely distracts (and detracts) from the poetic effect of the work. It would be better to have no pronunciation guide at all. 71.245.188.249 ( talk) 01:54, 22 June 2023 (UTC)
The poem is usually published with Coleridge’s writings on how he composed it and why it wasn’t finished, right? I’m assuming that’s why the title for a 54-line poem is italicized. Eyeluvbraixen ( talk) 07:11, 15 September 2023 (UTC)