Coleridge & Shelley

1) The power of the imagination is often exalted in Romantic poetry. In your opinion, does “Kubla Khan” celebrate the imagination or caution against its indulgence? To whom might Coleridge be writing and for what purpose(s)?

Our English text book states that the power of imagination is often exalted in Romantic poetry and in my opinion “Kubla Khan” definitely fits this statement. Although Coleridge references real people and places in his poem, he does go off into the extraordinary. In Coleridge’s poem he fabricates a dome in the sky, which is described to have an unimaginative beauty with rivers, trees, flowers, winding paths and even an Ethiopian maiden. I believe Coleridge writes this poem for people who want to escape their ordinary lives. This poem describes a fantasy land that does not have any problems and when some one reads this poem for that moment they can escape to this land and be in peace.


2) Even in the brief space of a sonnet, Shelley suggests a number of narrative frames. How many speakers do you hear in "Ozymandias"? What does each of these voices seem to say to you (or to others) as listeners?

In Shelley’s “Ozymandis” sonnet I found that she used four narrative frames, being the traveler, narrator, sculptor and Ozymandis himself. The very first line of this sonnet belongs to the narrator, which starts this poem off by saying that he meant a traveler from an “ancient land.” This then bring us into the second speaker which is the traveler. The traveler gives details about a sculpture that once stood on this land. He or she explains that this piece of art work is in pieces but still you can see the great details that were put into this statue. After the traveler explains the details of the ruins it then goes to talk about the sculptor which is the third speaker in this poem. The sculptor gave the details on the face of this statue due to his feelings towards Ozymandis, whom the statue was for. Underneath of the statue was a saying by Ozymandis himself, which makes him the fourth speaker in this sonnet. Ozymandis states that he is the king and for everyone to admirer his land that he rules, which shows that he is very arrogant and that is how the sculptor perceived him.