How can I find the Romantic elements in S. T. Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan"?

"Kubla Khan" is a fine example of romantic poetry. It embodies all the various themes one associates with that literary movement. It is a work of heightened imagination; its vision is dreamy and radically subjective; its setting is exotic and strange, far removed from the rational, logical world of the European Enlightenment; and it shows a reverence and passion for the force of nature, a sublime power in its own right.

All of these...

"Kubla Khan" is a fine example of romantic poetry. It embodies all the various themes one associates with that literary movement. It is a work of heightened imagination; its vision is dreamy and radically subjective; its setting is exotic and strange, far removed from the rational, logical world of the European Enlightenment; and it shows a reverence and passion for the force of nature, a sublime power in its own right.

All of these elements are there right from the start. One doesn't have to look too hard to find them. In line 3, we're introduced to "Alph, the sacred river." A river is not just a body of water to a romantic like Coleridge; it is invested with almost supernatural properties. Nature is not something to be exploited by man; it is sacred and alive and must be treated with respect and awe.

Coleridge provides us with examples of great natural beauty:

"And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, 

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; 

And here were forests ancient as the hills, 

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery."

But nature is much more than this for the romantics. It is also a place of darkness sublime and mystery unfathomable:

"But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted 

Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover! 

A savage place! as holy and enchanted

As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted

By woman wailing for her demon-lover! 

And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething, 

As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing, 

A mighty fountain momently was forced . . ."

I've highlighted some key words to illustrate the point. For the romantics, the enchanted world of nature can be dangerous and terrifying. Yet at the same time, it still retains for us a powerful, almost hypnotic attraction which incites us to explore its unfathomable depths while pushing back the boundaries of our own imaginations.