Kublai Khan

One night, the English Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, was ill! So ingesting, opium based a medication; while reading a book on the Great Emperor, fell into a fitful sleep: and so dreamt about the legendary Khan. On awakening, he began writing his laced dream, Kubla Khan. Unfortunately, he penned only fifty-four lines, before he was brutally interrupted, by an unfortunate bell-toll. Later, his famous friend Lord Byron, urged Coleridge to share it with a larger audience; rather than just his intimates. The poem as such, was finally published in 1797.

In a comprehensive study of the three-stanza poem, Tariq Hameed compares sections of Coleridge's verse with the life of the Mongol emperor of China and founder of the Yuan dynasty. Throughout his presentation, Tariq shares his unique perspectives of the original poem; a history of the Khan: his family, his wars, and his futuristic inspirations; and of his own poetic reflections. Finally, Tariq explores Khan's death and legacy: in his five added episodes!

Kublai Khan is a unique study of the poem Kubla Khan and the life of the Chinese Emperor.