Coleridge And The Third Eye

Coleridge and the Third Eye in “Kubla Khan” The “Third Eye” is a concept describing an inner part of the brain that reaches a higher consciousness, and is manifested substantially in the poem “Kubla Khan” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Coleridge is renowned for his works being opium-induced, “pipe dreams,” they are called. Opium is a hallucinogen, and hallucinogens are known to be compared to opening up the third eye. The third eye was a portal to visions, and the hallucination given by opium is like a vision. The third eye was significant during the Romantic Period from both a philosophical perspective and a historical perspective. Historically, during the time that this was written, somewhere between 1797 and 1816, opium was rapidly increasing in its yields and becoming an immensely popular drug. Philosophically, the effects of opium are an aesthetic experience that induces intangible creativity and sublimity, which was a theme of the Romantic Era. Opium, of course, is a rather extreme take on the concept of intangible beauty and creativity, but valid nonetheless. “Kubla Khan” embraces the zeitgeist of Romanticism. It delineates on a surreal and awesome experience, particularly an aesthetic one, as the setting is described as being extremely beautiful. The second section on the poem emphasizes heavily on the beautiful features of the place. Also attributing to the Romantic Movement is the complete denial of reason in nature. If the poem were to be taken literally, it would be impossible and paradoxical. Many impossible concepts are scenes are present and omnipresent, such as the endless river running through the endless caverns, and the walls and towers surrounding the entire place. In an endless place, having a surrounding structure is impossible. There is also the fact that a dome covers the whole place, but the area is all sunny save for the sylva patches and the icy caverns. Clearly since this is not a reasonable idea, it must be a metaphor for something else in fear of the poem being nonsensical. This neglect of ration and instead focus on aestheticism and feeling is wholly a Romantic idea as opposed to a more rationalized Enlightenment way of thinking. The paradoxical and poetical nature of the setting is further expanded upon. Again contradicting the “indoor” nature of the area, the ground is said to be fertile. In fact, the entire place is summed up as “A sunny pleasuredome with caves of ice!” clearly very imaginative. Fertile land, forests, and ice caves cannot all together exist within a close proximity to each other. And even less likely than they being in close proximity to each other would they being far from another, as this is all under one roof. Once again, this makes no rational sense.

Coleridge and the Third Eye in “Kubla Khan” Xanadu, the name of the place where this opium-laced reverie occurs, has gained some cultural significance. It has been shown to be the apical place of beauty, but at the same time with some sort of underlying sinister feel. Though everything is pretty, with the flowers, shining sun, etc, there are some contradictory imperfections. For instance, the “lifeless ocean” and the “sunless sea” are abnormal, but this time in a creepy sense instead of being abnormal in a beautiful and positive sense. The strangely captivating place has been referred to in many other things later on. A modern play called Xanadu, for instance, and the home of Charles Foster Kane (which is also very lavish and beautiful, yet sinister). Coleridge’s third eye is manifested best during the prophecy given to him by his ancestors. In the setting is a great chasm which is described as savage and holy, “savage” meaning pure and untouched, is present. The chasm is not of trepidation, but awesome and humbling, much like the rest of the place. From the endless chasm, a forceful geyser is shot out. Note again the paradox: That a jet of water is coming out of something endlessly deep. Amid the tumult of the river, geyser and ocean, Khan’s ancestor appears to him to give him a prophecy. Here is the apex of Coleridge’s third eye. His ancestor appearing to him to give him a prophecy is an elegant composition of imagination and divine touch, as well as the inner mind. Prophecy is associated with a kind of higher level of consciousness, the third eye. The prophecy itself and the event of the prophecy being represented is, however, brief and vague. Curiously enough, “Ancestral voices prophesying war!” is the only line used. Furthermore, that is the only line in which it is an apostrophe, since there is another character in which he is conversing with that is not wholly there. Toward the end of the poem, Xanadu is revealed to be Coleridge’s mind. In no other place can this otherworldly existence possibly be depicted if not from the mind, particularly an opium-laced reverie. The dome and surrounding structures of the place is his skull. Yet the endlessness of the place represents his never-ending thoughts. The geyser represents a strike of inspiration, some unique, out-of (literally) nowhere jet of thoughts that opens the third eye. More specifically, it is a metaphor for the opium rush. The chasm that it comes from is the third eye itself, normally grand, unapproachable due to its greatness, and unutilized. The sinister beauty is also important to note. The entire place is a metaphor for how everything is beautiful during his hallucination, yet there is something sinister lying underneath. Things aren’t quite right – quite natural,

Coleridge and the Third Eye in “Kubla Khan” which is a fair attribution to drugs. Perhaps this negative approach is to show that opium is not the ideal way to utilize the third eye, but it works. In determination, the poem “Kubla Khan” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge has a thematic preoccupation with the third eye. It is not the only theme, but a keynote linked to his own personal, opium-molded life. The entire poem describing Xanadu and its events are a metaphor for Coleridge’s own mind and its encounter with the third eye.