Home   Info   DevZone   Wiki   UsersWeb  |  MainWeb  |  InfoWeb  |  DevZoneWeb  |  SupportWeb
[ KublaKhanOdeGrecianUrn ] [ not logged in ] [ Web: Imported ] goto:  options [ get info on or edit ] [ login or new user ] [ list of topics, hubs & nodes, or recent changes ]

Intro

• Both poems bespeak the same conclusion, but in each poets individual style.
• The way to immortality is through perfectly beautiful art, although only the art survives physically, both are immortalized.

Thematic similarities:

• perfection (other world ) is impossible for mortal humans
  • Kubla fails to capture Nature (the river Alph)
  • the poet STC fails for fear of the consequences, 'And all who heard..' '..should cry, Beware Beware'
  • and the poet (JK) defers perfection/immortality to the urn : "When old age shall this generation waste/Thou shalt remain..a friend to man'
• artists can get close but only their art may actually reach immortality,perfection
• the unreproducible 'muse's song in Khan
• the urn's depiction of past that is still occuring
• "For ever wilt thou love and she be fair"
• the greatest art is as close to perfect as humans can comprehend. Any farther and they endanger their grounding in humanity
• The urn depicts immortal/perfect scenes
• "More happy love! MOre happy, happy love!" ... "All breathing human passion far above"
• and the song (the full version) represents understanding of the universe
• "for he on honeydew hath fed,/And drunk the milk of Paradise."
• and the loss of humanity thereby
• Khan:"His flashing eyes, his floating hair!"
• Urn:"Thou ... dost tease us out of thought/As doth eternity"

Structural similarities

<1--
• weak ones:short length, stanza form? , rhyme
-->
• Keats' pattern : descriptive imagery from object builds towards transcendence, sudden break in imagery denotes return to mortal concerns, metaphysical conclusion (as "Ode to a Nightengale")
• Coleridge's pattern : tale in stages -> moral conclusion as ('The Rime of the Ancient Mariner")

Image similarities?

• illusionary music (thanks hon)
• The muse's song in Kubla:
• "That with music loud and long,/I would build that dome in air,"
• The pipers' tune in Urn:
• "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard/Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;"
• images of beauty and joy clash with images of sadness,remorse, horror
• this is common to both poets in their own way
• Khan river, land, grounds vs ancient war spirits, is an example of Coleridges obcession with reconciling opposites.
• Urn's dancers, lovers, procession vs empty town, cold stone are common of Keats' subtle introduction of remorse into his happiest imagery

Conclusion:

• the reason each artist holds back from trancendence: Keats simply denies he can, where Coleridge thinks he could but fears the consequences
• Although both poems reach a simillar conclusion, it is stated in a very different manner, seemingly much influenced by the poet's view of the world
• Keats is facing his young death from tuberculosis, and it's spectre is giving him peace of mind that he might not otherwise possess.
• Coleridge is greatly terrified that he will lose his grasp on sanity and his friends.
• In this way, the poets provide opposite views of the ramifications of their shared conclusions about the nature of art and immortality while reaching the same conclusion.





---

Content of these pages are owned and copyrighted by the poster.
Hosted by: