'Supernatural' refers to things that cannot be explained. Supernatural forces are forces that work upon people but we cannot explain how and why. Ghosts in the plays of Shakespeare, gods interfering in the affairs of man, Deus ex machine, etc. can be taken as supernatural elements. Coleridge employs the supernatural in three of his important poems, namely, 'Christabel, 'Ancient Mariner' and 'Kubla khan'. We shall discuss here how Coleridge exploits this device to create effect to his poem.
'Kubla khan' is a vision in a dream and all the images
rising up before the poet seem to be 'things'.
Kubla khan orders a pleasure dome to be build in Xanadu on the banks of
the sacred river Alph which flows, through 'Caverns measureless to man' and
flows 'down to a sunless sea'. An area
of ten miles was enclosed for the purpose with walls and towers. Inside the enclosed area were gardens with
'sinuous rills' and 'sunny spots of greenery'.
The dome is a miracle of rare device.
Everything about the river is mysterious and enigmatic. The hidden caves of nature are set against
the 'sinuous rills' and the 'sunny spots of greenery'. The word 'bright' suggests something abnormal
and unnatural. 'Walls' and 'towers' also
suggest the exclusiveness and man's effort to cut himself off from nature.
The land plunges down through cedar woods to a deep
valley. A note of fear and beauty is
suggested. The atmosphere is both holy
and enchanted. The place is both savage
and charming. Into this place is
introduced a love-lorn lady seeking her demon lover under the weird light of
the declining moon. This adds to the
eeriness and mystery of the scene. It
adds a dramatic force to the scene.
The irregular bursts of water beneath the earth is
described with the phrases 'turmoil seething',
'fast thick pants', 'mightily', 'forces', 'vaulted', 'flung up' etc. The river makes a deep nose
when it falls into the ocean. Kubla Khan
seems to hear the voices of his forefathers predicting that war is
imminent. A message about destruction
from the immeasurable past is passed on to the present. It is ominous indeed.
The song of the
Abyssinian girl suggests something primitive about it. The poet with his
holiness and his sacred inspiration is a prophet different from the ordinary
people. The frenzy in which the poet is in the second part of the poem
also contributes to its supernatural vein. On the whole, 'Kubla khan' is
full of supernatural elements.