Of shapes and thoughts that tortured me:

The “Vision in a Dream” as Coleridge called it (Kubla Khan), Shows us a powerful world, where a king, creator image, wills into being a wonderful “pleasure dome”. “In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / a stately pleasure-dome decree: / Where Alph, the sacred river, ran / through the caverns measureless to man / Down to a sunless sea” (Coleridge1 lns 1-5). Magnuson interprets these lines as an abrupt start of the poem, unfettered by the haziness of a dream, vivid in the Khan’s creation of the dome, not by normal means. In essence the Khan wills the dome into being (Magnuson 41). Here, we see, in a very real way, that the speaker is watching this almost mystical, inhuman figure, Kubla Khan decree into being a place of wonderment. We get a sense of joy and elation at the creation, but as humans, unable to will such vast structures as a stately pleasure-dome into being, we meet the horror of the unknown. Although the majesty of the creation of the pleasure dome is not to be underestimated, the horror of the suddenness and otherworldliness of its creation is evident as well. Lowes states this idea effectively “No mortal can hope to call back that insubstantial pageant which once moved through a long-vanished dream.”(Lowes 328). No mortal can hope to fathom the creation of the pleasure dome, Coleridge himself cannot remember the entire vision, and hence, the pleasure dome, due to its creation is unfathomable to humankind. This ethereal nature of the creation of the dome by the decree of the Khan makes the reader forced to regard the Khan as a cosmic being, unfettered by the limitations of humanity, wholly different yet, somehow similar to mankind.

It is interesting to note, that Lovecraft was not celebrated or even given an anthology or a book with his work in it until after his death. In his life, he never had any of his stories published as a stand-alone tale. However, with Coleridge, his most famous and important work, especially in the genre of nightmarish horror Kubla Khan was panned when it was released, one critic said “as to Kubla Khan and the Pains of Sleep, we can only regret the publication of them, as affording proof that the Author over-rates the importance of his name”(Condor 2).

His most popular work, Call of Cthulhu gives otherworldliness to the idea of terror. “The aspect of the whole [Statue of Cthulhu] was abnormally life-like, and the more subtly fearful because its source was so totally unknown… Totally separate and apart, its very material was a mystery” (Lovecraft1 148) Lovecraft shows the complete otherness of the Cthulhu image, although it is somewhat man like, it is so different and so ancient; it inspires terror solely from being different. “Mankind is helpless against these unseen menaces, without any allies who may come to its rescue at the last minute.”(Schweitzer 15)

Some topics in this essay:
Kubla Khan, Moonlight Lovecraft, Pains Sleep, Mountains Madness, Nightmare Poetry, Cthulhu R’lyeh, Call Cthulhu, Coleridge Lovecraft, Coleridge’s English, Ancient Mariner, kubla khan, pains sleep, lovecraft similar, call cthulhu, pleasure dome, literary device, blood red, pulp author, khan pains sleep, coleridge lovecraft, mortal hope, symbolic approach poem, creation pleasure dome, kubla khan pains, howard phillips lovecraft,