Kubla Khan Homework

The Romantic era was well known for its artistic freedom and creativity in literature and music. Samuel Taylor Coleridge is considered one of the major Romantic figures. He was born in Ottery St Mary, Devonshire and was the youngest of ten children. Perhaps Coleridge’s birth order contributed to his creativity, as lastborns are risk takers and more liberal. He ran away at the age of seven- as lastborns are more likely to engage in more risky behavior. Throughout his life, Coleridge was addicted to opium and was in debt with opium, alcohol and women. He wrote a collection of Poems on Various Subjects which was published in 1796 and 1797. “Kubla Khan” was one of the many poems in Coleridge’s collection.

            “Kubla Khan” was inspired by a dream vision and takes place in a demonic world which first appears to be paradise. The scenary described in the beginning of a poem describes a dream world with a sacred river, fertile soil, and beautiful gardens and forests. However, water is spit up from a hill so forcefully that the river runs down the forest and turns it into a lifeless ocean. The place no longer appears to be a paradise, for a demonic world has taken over. Perhaps this poem reflects Coleridge’s transition from a child into an adult. Life became bitter and dark when he became addicted to opium, alcohol and women.

            It’s interesting how Coleridge uses scenery and nature to portray a certain mood for the reader. The ocean that washes the forest away is a lifeless place, almost similar to Hell. The river represents power, because the waves of the water are so strong that they have the ability to wipe away everything. Perhaps the constant movement of the river is a symbol for Coleridge’s life and how it is constantly changing from peacefulness to chaos.

William Blake Homework

      William Blake's The Little Boy Lost was about a boy yearning for his father, followed
by disappearing into "vapor." What this represents the grief a child can feel when abandoned by a paternal figure and the losing of the Childs self. When Blake writes "The mire was deep & the child did weep and away the vapor flew" the little boy stared out into life and "weeped" from the fear of enormity of life (the deep mire), in which he then was lost in. This is almost a Freudian expression of an individuals struggle with identity, without the security of their parents. In "The Little Boy Found" the boy is saved by god and brought back to his mother. In this god is faith. The boy finds the comfort missing from the security of his father, from faith and the love of his mother. This is the mind set of the innocent and their willingness to adapt and cope.      
       



               "The Little Girl Lost" was unlike "The Little Boy Lost" which was about a male archetype,
"The Little Girl Lost Was about society as a whole, being destroyed due to complacency or "sleep."  In the begriming he writes "In futurity I prophetic see that the earth from sleep (Grave the sentence deep) Is talking about how he sees the inevitable doom of humanity due to sleep. He then
goes on to say "Shall arise and seek for her maker meek; And in the desert wild; Become a garden mild." This is societies eventual disappointment in god (Shall arise and seek for her maker meek) and the doom that will ensue (And in the desert wild; Become a garden mild). Then the story begins with a little girl named Lycra who is looking for her parents, this is a representation of the current generation of society looking for the wisdom of past generations. Being unsuccessful the girl falls asleep unit she is eventually raped by "beasts." The "beasts" are a representation of tyranny. In
the second part of the poem her parents (wisdom) find her only to be trapped with her by the lion. This is a depiction of "hind sight is 20/20" where wisdom found society, but it was too late. 

               

                In "The Chimney Sweeper" and "The Chimney Sweep" talks about how "Little Tom Dacre"
finds hope and promise of heaven in a dream. The dream was about an angel who sets the chimney sweepers free, who then enjoy heaven and promises Tom heaven. Then Tom is given hope and strength to deal with his situation as a enslaved chimney sweeper. 

     

               "The Chimney Sweep" The seemingly matured observer of Tom Dacre, finds himself bitter at the fact that he is a slave and has been treated so poorly. While his slave masters are worshiping god for the promise of heaven, he accuses them of making him a heaven of misery (Hell). He is also making the separation between his slave masters and their church, and himself. This implies the characters bitterness towards dogma.         

           

               The separation between innocence and experience is reasonable, as these four poems are describing innocence and experience through the perceptions of different stereo-archetypes. But what these poems are also doing is allowing you to view these perceptions through the eyes of people in unfortunate situations and how these characters either persevere in innocence or suffer with the burden of experience given their situation. The little boy and Tom Dacre rose above their situations with child like, Devine enlightenment which is why it is of a mind innocence. On the
other hand we have the observer of Tom Dacre and the little girl who both failed to rise above their situations and just suffered with their realizations through experience. With innocence there is a purity and youthfulness in the approaches those characters take that allow them to have closure with their situations. On the other hand with experience comes awareness and hopelessness, these stories are also left sort of unresolved. In "The Little Girl found" Lyca and her family are just stuck at the end. In "Chimney Sweep" The observer of Tom Dacre is left in a bitter, unfortunate state with no closure. 

               

                Both of these descriptions of Innocence and experience are interesting and correct in the way things are rationalized when thinking in both an innocent mind or experienced mind. With experience awareness gives you a sense of existence more than it prepares you for the future. Innocence grants you a sense of hope, due to the lack of knowing what is going to happen in the future. This is how Blake expresses his innocent hopeful nature and in logical progression expresses his experienced pesamistic nature.