“Does being under the influence of drugs effect a poet’s emotions and the way in which they see their environment?”

There are many examples, both past and present of poets that use drugs and write whilst under the influence. Two prominent poets known for this are Samuel Coleridge who wrote in the romantic era and Marty Matz a modern day poet. Coleridge is probably best known for his poem Kubla Khan, one that he wrote under the influence of opium or laudanum (a drink made from opium and alcohol). The link between Coleridge and Matz is both used opium and wrote almost all their work under the influence of this drug. Matz brought out a book called ‘Pipe Dreams’. In which he has poems all relating to opium, he describes how he feels and what he sees after smoking the drug. One of these is ‘Pipe Dream #7’ both of these poems are good examples of how a poet is affected by the use of drugs; how it effects their emotions and the way they see the environment around them.

The poem Kubla Khan was written by Samuel T Coleridge in 1798. It contains strong imagery of a fantastical landscape, in w...