Kubla Khan
by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round;
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 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:
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail:
And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean;
And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war!
The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves;
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight ’twould win me,
That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
Meanings of Kubla Khan
The poem Kubla Khan by S. T. Coleridge presents the poet’s vision in words. The main idea of this vision is the mysterious power of imagination.
Meanings of Lines 1-5
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
The poet starts with the title of the poem, which he says is a vision in a dream. And it is just a fragment of that vision. The poet sees that Kubla Khan, the Chinese king, ordered the construction of a pleasure dome in Xanadu, a Chinese city. The sacred river Alph flowed through that city and ran in immeasurable caverns toward the sea, where it does open itself to the sun. The poet means that the river does not show up after it undergoes into the long caverns. They are immeasurable for man. The vision of the poet is this exotic atmosphere which was more exotic when the poem appeared. These verses contribute to the main idea of romanticism and the power of imagination.
Meanings of Lines 6-11
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round;
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.
The poet goes into the details of the ground selected for the palace. He says that the ground was five square miles on all sides, with high towers and walls around it. The gardens of this palace were full of beautiful rivulets and incense-bearing trees. It was full of old forests and green spots. The palace was a paragon of beauty bedecked with natural flora and fauna as the poet sees in his vision. These verses further add to the exotic idea of the presentation through imagination.
Meanings of Lines 12-24
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:
Amid a whose swift half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail:
And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
The poet exclaims in wonder when he sees the beauty of the landscape. He states the beautiful and deep space that goes down the green hill suddenly comes across the cedar cover. These cedar trees are very long. It seems a wild place with holiness and magic in it, as if some demon-lover of a woman appeared under the disappearing moon. Such is the haunting scene where the poet looks at the chams again and sees the fountains coming out of the earth as if the earth is breathing and panting, or turmoil is seething beneath the surface of the earth. This mighty fountain bursts for a moment and makes huge vaults with hails coming fast on the earth. It seems the grain is falling from the thresher. It seems that this fountain is throwing up the sacred river into the space in the middle of these dancing rocks. These verses add to the main idea of the power of imagination, the exotic atmosphere, and enchantment of the romanticism.
Meanings of Lines 25-34
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean;
And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war!
The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves;
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
The poet now turns his attention to the river. He states that the river meanders five miles. Most of its motion is mazy through woods and valleys until it reaches those caverns which are very long. These immeasurable caverns show the length of the river. Then making noises, this river falls into the ocean, which is as peaceful as a lifeless place. Kubla Khan hears the voices of his ancestors amid this tumult. They prophesy a war as the shadow of the dome moves on the waves and mixes up with the noise of the mingling of the fountain and the caves. These verses are highly prophetic. They show the power of the imagination of poet to look into the future.
Meanings of Lines 35-47
It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight ’twould win me,
That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
The poet states that after looking at that palace and its dome in the vision, he observes that it is a miracle to build such a great dome with sunlight falling on it and ice on its caves. The poet sees a beautiful damsel who is playing Mount Abora on her dulcimer. Her features show that she is from Abyssinia. However, the poet feels at a loss about how to revive her song and her symphony. If he could be able to do it, he would be able to build that dome in the air with that the same music, the same sunlight falling, and the same caves of ice making appearances. The poet is fully intoxicated to show his imagination’s power and enchantment with the exotic lands.
Meanings of Lines 48-54
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
The poet states that all those who have heard about this stately dome that the poet has created with his imagination would cry out, saying that all should become alert. It is a warning to others about the king’s wild eyes and crazy hair. They would say that it should be encircled thrice so that the people should see or refuse to look at him because he has eaten honey and drunk heavenly milk. In other words, the poet thinks that this vision would enchant the onlookers. Therefore, people should be advised beforehand about this powerful vision of the poet and its likely impacts.
Summary of Kubla Khan
Popularity of “Kubla Khan”: A highly visionary poem of S. T. Coleridge, “Kubla Khan” is a masterpiece of romantic poetry published in 1816, and it still maintains its romantic appeal and artistic touch, though. Originally, it was written to describe a luxurious palace of a Chinese king, Kubla Khan, about which the poet has read somewhere. The poet has won accolades due to its appealing imagery and the way he has painted a lively and perfect picture of that palace.
“Kubla Khan” a Representation of a Dream: The poem explores art and romanticism used to paint a dream world. The expression of beauty runs throughout the poem. Coleridge has skillfully applied the “willing suspension of disbelief”, despite knowing that the palace is a dreamland. He has presented it to enchant the readers and to inspire by describing the delightful and mesmerizing beauty of a dream.
Major Themes in “Kubla Khan”: The poem comprises diverse themes. True to its romantic tradition, it presents various versions of the reality of the palace the poet has presented through his imagination. The second theme is of the man and his significance in the natural world as depicted by Kubla Khan himself. The concept of time and the permanence of art are its other thematic strands presented by Coleridge.
Analysis of Literary Devices in Kubla Khan
literary devices such as similes, personification, and irony are very important elements of any literary text. These devices bring richness and clarity to the text. In addition, the use of literary devices makes the text life like so that a reader can use imagination like “Kubla Khan.” Here is the analysis of some literary devices used in this poem.
1) Simile: Simile is a figure of speech in which two things with different qualities are compared to present a vivid description of an object or a person. There is one simile used in the poem in line 21 such as “huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail.” The fragments have been compared to pieces of hailstorm to show their impacts.
2) Personification: Personification is attribution of human qualities to an inanimate object. Coleridge has used personification in the first stanza where he states, “as if this earth in fast thick pant was breathing,” comparing the earth to a breathing human being. He also has personified rocks in line 23 as “the dancing rocks.” Dancing is a human characteristic, but the poet has attributed this quality to rocks.
3) Metaphor: There are two metaphors in the poem. First is used in the twelfth line where it is “deep romantic chasm.” Here the “deep romantic chasm” represents the creativity and deep imagination of the poet. Second is used in the last stanza such as “woman wailing for her demon-lover.” Here “wait” metaphorically represents the desire for love.
4) Synecdoche: Synecdoche is a literary device in which a part of something represents the whole. Coleridge has used synecdoche in line 19 such as “A mighty fountain momentarily was forced” where the fountain has been used for the waterfall or the streamlet that is coming out of a gorge with force.
5) Assonance: Assonance is a repetition of the vowel sounds in the same line such as the sounds of /e/ in “deep delight”, “A stately pleasure-dome decree” and /a/ sound in “Through caverns measureless to man.”
6) Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds such as /d/ sound in “deep delight”, /t/ in “fast thick pants breathing” and /f/ sound in “from the fountain.”
7) Apostrophe: Apostrophe is a device used to call somebody or something from afar. Here the poet has used an apostrophe to warn someone “Beware! Beware!” which means that he is calling some anonymous person to be on the alert.
9) Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sounds in the same lines of verse such as the use of /s/ sound in “sympathy and song.”
The analysis shows that Coleridge’s use of literary devices has helped him present a complete and luxurious picture of the palace of Kubla Khan and the beauty in that realm.
Analysis of Poetic Devices in “Kubla Khan”
Although most of the poetic devices share the same qualities with literary devices, there are some which can only be used in poetry. The analysis of some of the poetic devices is given below.
1) Stanza: The poem is structured in two parts and four stanzas. The poet has applied the mix of tetrameter and pentameter to these undefined stanzas.
2) Rhyme Scheme: As the poem does not follow any organized structure, hence the rhyme scheme varies from stanza to stanza.
3) Rhyming Iambic Meter: It means that meter has no regular feet in each line. There are four or five meters in some lines such as the first two lines are in tetrameter, but lines 8 and 9 are in pentameter.
4) Repetition: There is a repetition of the phrase “pleasure doom” that enhances the musical quality of the poem.
5) Refrain: The lines that are repeated at some distance in the poems are called refrain. The words “caverns measureless to man” are repeated and used as a refrain in lines 4 and 29 with the same words.
This analysis shows that the poet has made skillful use of refrains, meter, and stanza forms to reach his goal to describe a dream.
Quotations for Usage from “Kubla Khan”
- The given lines could be quoted when teaching about supernatural objects. Such incidents often make people cry and scream out of fear.
“And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!”
- These two lines could be used in speech to tell about some past adventure or expedition to some wonderland.
“It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!”