51 Coleridge, Kubla Khan, and the Person from Porlock – A Literary Mystery

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Arts, Books

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 18 July 2016

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1797, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge took two grains of opium and fell into a stupor. When he awoke, he had in his head the remnants of a marvelous dream, a vivid train of images of the Chinese emperor Kubla Khan and his summer palace, Xanadu. The vision transformed itself into lines of poetry, but as he started writing, he was interrupted by a Person from Porlock, who arrived at Coleridge’s cottage on business and stayed for an hour. when Coleridge returned to his work, the vision had been lost, and the fragmentary nature of the poem Kubla Khan has haunted its admirers ever since. The resentment has centered around the bumbling Person from Porlock, whose visit remains shrouded in mystery. The scholar Jonathan Livingston Lowes put it bluntly: “If there is any man in the history of literature who should e hanged, drawn, and quartered,” he wrote, “it is the man on business from Porlock.” Who was this Person from Porlock, and why was he knocking on the door of Coleridge’s cottage? How did Coleridge handle the interruption, and what did it mean for him and his art? And finally, what might we take from this vivid legend today? Show Notes: You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com. Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766). Music Credits: “Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA). “Piano Between” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. Since you're listening to The History of Literature, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding literature, history, and storytelling like Storybound, Micheaux Mission, and The History of Standup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglamorate Network and LIT Hub Radio.
0:07.0	Hello everyone, this is Jack Wilson, the host of the History of Literature Podcast.
0:14.0	I'm so glad you're here and welcome to the show.
0:17.0	One quick note before we begin, you have found one of the oldest episodes in our archive.
0:23.0	The show doesn't discuss literature in chronological order,
0:26.2	so you won't be missing anything if you start with the more recent episodes
0:29.6	instead of the earliest ones.
0:31.4	And, let's be honest honest the show's quality has improved
0:34.4	quite a bit since these early days. But of course where you begin is up to you and
0:39.4	if you'd like to give this one a try please be my guest. All of the episodes in the archive are yours to enjoy for free.
0:47.0	Hello. One day in 1797, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge took two grains of opium and retired to his room for a nap.
0:58.0	When he awoke, he had in his head the remnants of a marvelous dream, a vivid train of images of the Chinese Emperor Coopla Khan and
1:06.2	in Summer Palace, Xanadu.
1:08.9	The vision transformed itself into lines of poetry, but as he started writing it down, he was interrupted by a person from
1:15.2	Parlach who arrived at Coleridge's cottage on business and stayed for an hour.
1:21.2	When Coleridge returned to his work, the vision had been lost, and the fragmentary nature of the poem Kublicon has haunted its admirers ever since.
1:30.0	The resentment has centered around the bumbling person from Polack, whose visit remains shrouded in mystery.
1:36.9	The scholar Jonathan Livingston Lowe's put it bluntly.
1:40.4	If there is any man in the history of literature who should be hanged, drawn, and quartered, he wrote, it is the man on business from Porlock.
1:49.0	Who was this person from Porlock, and what was he doing knocking on the door of
1:53.5	Coleridge's cottage? How did Coleridge handle the interruption and what did it mean
1:58.5	for him and his art? And finally what might we take from this vivid legend today?
	...

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