"Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and "Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey" by William Wordsworth are poems from the romanticism period. Both poems share common characteristics and have some contrasting traits. The presence of romanticism, the fact that both are written after the incident or dream took place, and the difference in reality and imagination are very important in analyzing these poems.
One characteristic that "Kubla Khan" and "Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey" have in common is the fact that both poems were written a significant amount of time after the incident or dream occurred. "Kubla Khan," a widely interpreted poem, is actually a dream Coleridge had one day. He suffered from depression and was in an opium-induced sleep when he received the vision. Eventually, a visitor awakened Coleridge and interrupted his dream. Later that night, he wrote down what he could remember of his vision.
English: Draft of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem K...
English: Samuel Taylor Coleridge at age 42. Franç...
English: Titlepage of Kubla Khan.Likewise, "Tintern Abbey" is also a poem written after an event occurred. "Tintern Abbey" was written four or five days after the incident happened. Both poems were written after the event or vision transpired.
Another distinctive feature that the two poems share is the presence of romantic traits. "Kubla Khan" is based on the idea of a palace being built for Kubla Khan. In addition, nature is used to emphasize romanticism in the following passage: "A stately-dome decree: Where Alph, the secret river, ran through caverns measureless to man down to a sunless sea" (p. 546 lines 3-5). The dome and the sacred river that runs down to the sunless seas paint a vivid mental picture. He evokes emotion and feeling through the words of nature. Similarly, nature is undoubtedly present in "Tintern Abbey." Wordsworth describes nature and illustrates the way it makes him feel. "Of five long...