“Kubla Khan” (formally titled “Kubla Khan; or, A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment”) is one of the finest examples of Coleridge’s engagement with Romantic themes.

• Exotic: The poem is set in a fantastical and exotic landscape, inspired by Xanadu, the summer palace of the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan. Coleridge describes “Alph, the sacred river,” “caverns measureless to man,” and “gardens bright with sinuous rills,” all of which create an imaginative and dream-like world.

• Supernatural: The entire poem is presented as a vision or dream, which gives it a mystical and otherworldly quality. The appearance of the “damsel with a dulcimer” and the speaker’s longing to rebuild the “dome in air” add supernatural and symbolic dimensions.

• Imagination and Psychological Depth: While Kubla Khan is primarily concerned with the power of imagination and the creative process, it shares with Coleridge’s other works the dream-like, unsettling atmosphere that often reflects deeper psychological states. However, the theme of guilt and penance is more strongly developed in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Thus, Kubla Khan stands as the quintessential example of the exotic, supernatural, and imaginative dream-landscape that characterizes Coleridge’s Romantic vision.

কবিতায় উল্লেখ আছে যে মোট ২০০ জন নাবিক এবং একজন মেরিনার মিলে ২০১ জন যাত্রা করেছিল। পরে ২০০ জনই মারা যায় এবং কেবল প্রাচীন মেরিনার জীবিত থাকে। এ কারণেই সে তার অপরাধবোধের বোঝা নিয়ে আজীবন গল্প শুনিয়ে বেড়ায়।