Christabel & Kubla Khan E-Book

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

• Herausgeber: DigiCat
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

In "Christabel" and "Kubla Khan," Samuel Taylor Coleridge masterfully weaves a tapestry of dreams, supernatural elements, and themes of creation and desire. Both poems exemplify the Romantic era's fascination with the sublime, utilizing vivid imagery, lyrical exploration, and an innovative narrative style to elevate the poetic form. "Christabel" presents a haunting tale of innocence and seduction, while the fragmented nature of "Kubla Khan" reflects the complexities of the creative process and the interplay between imagination and reality, showcasing Coleridge's ability to evoke emotional depth through intricate meter and rich symbolism. Coleridge, a prominent figure in the Romantic movement, was deeply influenced by his philosophical inquiries and personal struggles, including opium addiction, which informed his exploration of altered states of consciousness in these works. His friendship with William Wordsworth and the broader Romantic context of the late 18th and early 19th centuries provided him with an unique lens through which to examine the intersection of nature, human emotion, and fantastic realms, revealing the tension between rational thought and mystical experience. This collection is essential for readers seeking to delve into the complexities of Romantic poetry. Coleridge's unique voice continues to resonate, inviting a deeper understanding of language and imagination. "Christabel" and "Kubla Khan" are not merely poems but portals into the profound emotional and intellectual landscapes of one of literature's most enigmatic minds.

Leseprobe

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Christabel & Kubla Khan

A Vision in a Dream

 

EAN 8596547009719

DigiCat, 2022 Contact: [email protected]

Table of Contents

Christabel

Kubla Khan; or, A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment

Christabel

Table of Contents

Preface

Part I

The Conclusion to Part I

Part II

Conclusion to Part II

Preface

Table of Contents

The first part of the following poem was written in the year 1797, at Stowey, in the county of Somerset. The second part after my return from Germany, in the year 1800, at Keswick, Cumberland. It is probable that if the poem had been finished at either of the former periods, or if even the first and second part had been published in the year 1800, the impression of its originality would have been much greater than I dare at present expect. But for this, I have only my own indolence to blame. The dates are mentioned for the exclusive purpose of precluding charges of plagiarism or servile imitation from myself. For there is amongst us a set of critics, who seem to hold, that every possible thought and image is traditional; who have no notion that there are such things as fountains in the world, small as well as great and who would therefore charitably derive every rill they behold flowing, from a perforation made in some other man’s tank. I am confident however, that as far as the present poem is concerned, the celebrated poets whose writings I might be suspected of having imitated, either in particular passages, or in the tone and the spirit of the whole, would be among the first to vindicate me from the charge, and who, on any striking coincidence, would permit me to address them in this doggerel version of two monkish Latin hexameters.

Yes mine and it is likewise yours; But an if this will not do; Let it be mine, good friend for I Am the poorer of the two.

I have only to add, that the metre of the Christabel is not, properly speaking, irregular, though it may seem so from its being founded on a new principle: namely, that of counting in each line the accents, not the syllables. Though the latter may vary from seven to twelve, yet in each line the accents will be found to be only four. Nevertheless this occasional variation in number of syllables is not introduced wantonly, or for the mere ends of convenience, but in correspondence with some transition, in the nature of the imagery or passion.

Part I

Table of Contents

‘Tis the middle of night by the castle clock, And the owls have awakened the crowing cock; Tu — whit! — Tu — whoo! And hark, again! the crowing cock, How drowsily it crew.

Sir Leoline, the Baron rich, Hath a toothless mastiff bitch; From her kennel beneath the rock She maketh answer to the clock, Four for the quarters, and twelve for the hour; 10Ever and aye, by shine and shower, Sixteen short howls, not over loud; Some say, she sees my lady’s shroud.

Is the night chilly and dark? The night is chilly, but not dark. The thin gray cloud is spread on high, It covers but not hides the sky. The moon is behind, and at the full; And yet she looks both small and dull. The night is chill, the cloud is gray: 20‘Tis a month before the month of May And the Spring comes slowly up this way.

The lovely lady, Christabel, Whom her father loves so well, What makes her in the wood so late, A furlong from the castle gate? She had dreams all yesternight Of her own betrothe’d knight; And she in the midnight wood will pray For the weal of her lover that’s far away. 30

She stole along, she nothing spoke, The sighs she heaved were soft and low, And naught was green upon the oak But moss and rarest misletoe: She kneels beneath the huge oak tree, And in silence prayeth she.

The lady sprang up suddenly, The lovely lady, Christabel! It moaned as near, as near can be, But what it is she cannot tell. — 40On the other side it seems to be, Of the huge, broad-breasted, old oak tree.

The night is chill; the forest bare; Is it the wind that moaneth bleak? There is not wind enough in the air To move away the ringlet curl From the lovely lady’s cheek — There is not wind enough to twirl The one red leaf, the last of its clan, That dances as often as dance it can, 50Hanging so light, and hanging so high, On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky.