woke up he hurried to write down the images But his flow was interrupted by a visitor This dream origin makes the poem full of fancy Like a dream the poem has no clear beginning or ending The scenes change suddenly just as they do in dreams A World Created by Imagination The world of Kubla Khan does not follow the rules of the real world Coleridge imagines a stately pleasure-dome built by Kubla Khan in Xanadu In Xanadu did Kubla KhanA stately pleasure-dome decree The place is surrounded by fertile land gardens rivers forests and hills Everything feels magical and unreal We see a sunny land and also caves of ice Such a place of hot and cold cannot exist in reality This strange mixture of opposites shows the poet s sheer fancy The poem does not explain how these things are possible It only shows what the poet imagines Strange Images The poem is full of strange natural images that feel unreal The sacred river Alph flows through gardens Then the river suddenly enters underground caves into a sunless sea Next we see a creepy weird chasm forests and a woman wailing for her demon-lover Coleridge writes that it is a savage holy and enchanted place A savage place hauntedBy woman wailing for her demon-lover From the chasm a powerful fountain bursts out violently It throws rocks into the air These storage images come directly from the poet s fancy Sudden Shifts and Broken Structure Another reason why Kubla Khan is a product of sheer fancy is its broken structure The poem does not follow a smooth storyline It suddenly shifts from Kubla Khan s palace to a wild river cavern deep chasm sunless sea and finally to an Abyssinian maid The poet suddenly remembers a vision of an Abyssinian maid playing music A damsel with a dulcimerIn a vision once I saw There is no clear connection between these parts This sudden change of focus feels illogical But this is how fancy works Fancy moves freely without rules The Abyssinian Maid and Poetic Imagination The image of the Abyssinian maid appears in the poet s vision She plays a dulcimer and sings about Mount Abora The poet wishes he could remember her song If he could he says he would build the pleasure-dome in the air using poetry He says Could I revive within meHer symphony and song I would build that dome in air The maid represents creative inspiration She exists only in the poet s fancy not in reality For these reasons Kubla Khan is truly a product of sheer fancy The images are strange beautiful and unreal The structure is broken and illogical All these qualities show the power of Coleridge s imagination The poem does not try to explain reality Instead it celebrates fancy dreams and creative imagination That is why Kubla Khan stands as a perfect example of sheer fancy in Romantic poetry