Kubla Khan

KUBLA KHAN – SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE EXPLANATION: Lines Lin es 1-2 In these lines, Coleridge introduces Kubla Khan, ruler of the Mongol Empire in China during the 13th century A.D. is !ingdom symboli"ed #ealth and mystery to Europeans e$er since Marco %olo first #rot #rotee about about his his tra$ tra$el elss ther there& e& thro through ughou outt the the poem, poem, Cole Coleri ridg dgee build buildss a sens sensee of the the e'ot e'otic ic and and mysterious. (he second line emphasi"es Kubla Khan)s po#er as he orders a fitting palace for himself. It also hints at one of the many contrasts #hich #ill appear in the poem as the #ord, stately, con$eying the grandeur and ma*esty of Kubla Khan)s creation, is paired #ith the idea of a pleasure dome, a place of  lu'ury and leisure. (he opening images of the poem bear stri!ing similarities to the follo#ing +uotation from %urchas) %ilgrimage, %ilgrimage, #hich Coleridge Coleridge said he #as reading immediately immediately before before he drifted drifted into his deep sleep In -amdu did Cublai Can builde a stately %alace, encompassing si'teene miles of plaine ground #ith a #all, #herein are fertile Meddo#es, pleasant springs, delightful treames, and all sorts of beasts of  chase and game, and in the middest thereof a suptuous house of pleasure. As you loo! through the first eight lines, notice the #ords that Coleridge has borro#ed. It is also interesting to notice the changes #hich he made. /or e'ample, -anadu fits the poem)s iambic tetrameter, #here -amdu #ould not. Line Li ne 3 Khan chooses to build this dome on the site of a sacred ri$er, #hich Coleridge calls the Alph. Although no ri$er #ith this name e'ists, the name itself suggests or has the connotation of a beginning. (his is  because Alph is so similar to Alpha, the first letter of the 0ree! alphabet, #hich has as an alternate meaning, beginning. Coleridge, li!e many poets, li!es to e'periment #ith language and in$ent #ords to  pro$ide added guides to meaning. Critics ha$e also identified the Alph #ith such different ri$ers as the  ile, the Alpheus ri$er in 0reece, and the fourth ri$er to flo# out of the 0arden of Eden. ote that the #ord ri$er is al#ays accompanied by the ad*ecti$e, sacred. ince ri$ers and #ater are life2gi$ing, the sacred ri$er may be seen as a symbol of life. Lines Lin es -! A second contrast is introduced #ith these lines. After the ri$er lea$es the area #here Kubla Khan creates his !ingdom, it flo#s beyond man)s reach into a series of underground ca$erns. Measureless to man con$eys not only ca$erns that man cannot physicall physically y map, but areas that are beyond the reach of  his full comprehension. (he ri$er has as its ultimate destination, the sunless sea, a place #ithout light and life, therefore a complete contrast con trast to the earlier impression of the ri$er. Lines Lin es "-# In these lines, Coleridge returns to the construction of Khan)s !ingdom. (en miles of land, #hich are e'ceptionally rich, are enclosed behind a #all #ith to#ers to protect it. (he pleasure dome is not a  public sight, a$ailable to anyone #ho #ishes to $isit. It is a pri$ate domain. (his ma!es it +uite different from the poet)s creation #hich #ill be discussed later in the poem. Line Liness $-11 $-11 ere another contrast is introduced. (he gardens, planted or culti$ated areas designed by humans, fill  part of the area #ith brightly colored flo#ers and a nd s#eet smelling trees, #atered by numerous #inding  broo!s #hich branch off from the sacred ri$er. (hese gardens are set among ancient forests, #hich ha$e h a$e  been there as long as the land itself. (he ri$er and forests pro$ide an ageless bac!drop for Khan)s dream. Although Coleridge notes the differences bet#een Khan)s planned estate and nature)s realm, both seem to e'ist in a harmonious balance. (he !ingdom described in lines 4211 is created using an e$ocati$e series of images of an earthly paradise, perhaps e$en a type of Eden. Lines Lin es 12-1 1 2-13 3 5ine 16 begins by signaling ne# and e$en greater contrasts #hich the follo#ing lines #ill de$elop as they describe the deep crac! in the earth hidden under the gro$e of cedar trees. Line Line 1

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(his is no artificial or man2made place. It is unreached by culti$ation and ci$ili"ation, a magic and e$en  blessed spot that e'ists outside of man)s understanding. (he calm and balance of lines : through 11 are missing in this primiti$e, #ild place. ;hen holy and enchanted are *oined together in this description, they con$ey a sense of the pagan and the supernatural. Lines 1!-1" Coleridge uses a simile to sho# the distance of this site from Khan)s imposing gardens. (he #aning moon describes that period as the moon decreases from full, so less and less of it is $isible. (hus, this mysterious chasm is compared to a spot haunted, by a #oman crying in anguish, as the moon)s light diminishes, for her demon lo$er. Any relationship bet#een a human and the supernatural #ould be impossible in balanced garden of Khan. It could only e'ist in the passionate uphea$al of the chasm. Lines 1#-1% (his mysterious chasm is pictured in constant turbulence, $ery different from the garden)s calm. ymbolist critics point out se'ual and birth imagery in these lines. (he language ma!es it easy to picture the earth in labor, gi$ing birth to the fountain. Lines 2&-22 (he po#er of the fountain #hich pours forth the ri$er is apparent as huge boulders are tossed up #ith the #ater. (#o similes are used to illustrate this force. In the first, the huge boulders are compared to hail. (he second ma!es them seem e$en lighter. A thresher is a person or machine #ho separates the useful, hea$ier part of a !ernel of grain from its lighter, useless shell or chaff. ;hen the grain is hit #ith a flail, the !ernel drops do#n immediately into a container& the chaff is blo#n a#ay by the #ind. Lines 23-2$ (he ne't lines re$eal all the contradictions in the ri$er)s path. Along #ith the boulders, the ri$er emerges. (he pre$ious similes describing the boulders both use images in$ol$ing stri!ing hail hits the earth& the thresher hits the grain. (he mood of lines 16266 is of turmoil and uphea$al. After the roc!s lea$e the chasm, they are described again, using a gentler metaphor, as dancing roc!s. (his phrase is also an e'ample of personification, #here inanimate ob*ects are gi$en human characteristics. After its tumultuous beginning, the ri$er slo#ly ta!es a #andering path through the gardens. (he poet uses alliteration in line t#enty2fi$e to add a slo#, humming sound, #ith miles, meandering, ma"y and motion. (he repetition of lines 32< in 6426: slo#s the pace as #ell. Lines 2%-3& Although Khan)s gardens initially seem a place of peace and balance, Khan himself hears a different message coming from the distant rumbles of the chasm and the ca$e. (he tumult of the ri$er issues a #arning that human creations are not permanent. (he $oices of his ancestors pro$ide testimony to the fact that the greatest creations of the #orld e$entually come to ruin. (hus, too, the elegant dome is threatened #ith the destruction of #ar. Lines 31-3 (he $arious contrasts Coleridge has described in the poem so far come together in these lines. (he poem returns to that part of this earthly paradise #hich Kubla Khan has constructed, the pleasure2dome& ho#e$er, in these lines, it is not seen directly, merely as a shado#. o# the contrasting element, the turmoil of the fountain and the message of the ca$erns, seems to o$ershado# the dome)s image, #arning that man)s creation is transitory& nature endures. Lines 3!-3" In these lines, Coleridge ends the first part of the poem, describing Kubla Khan and his #orld. (he meter  returns to iambic pentameter here, gi$ing the lines a slo#er, measured +uality. (his meter helps to emphasi"e the mood or regret and loss in these lines as they summari"e Kubla Khan)s creati$e achie$ement. e harmoni"ed opposing forces, sun and ice, in his miraculous dome, #hich has since $anished #ithout trace. Lines 3#-3$ (he poet himself becomes the sub*ect as the poem mo$es from Kubla Khan)s physical creation to the  poet)s $ision as he recounts seeing a young girl playing a stringed musical instrument in a dream. (he %C7(82D5/7E02IC76994

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 poem shifts from third person to the first person, I. ote that the meter also changes again, and becomes e$en more regular as the poem returns to the light, upbeat tempo of iambic tetrameter throughout much of this stan"a. Lines 3%-1 Coleridge again in$ents or adapts names to con*ure a sense of mystery or the e'otic. (he maid in the $ision, li!e Kubla Khan, is from a foreign place. Abyssinia is another name for Ethiopia. Mount Abora, li!e Alph, is a name that Coleridge created. o#e$er, se$eral critics note its similarity to Mount Amara in Milton)s %aradise 5ost. (he reader is not gi$en any details of the $ision& no images are pro$ided. (he reader may assume that Mount Abora is similar to Khan)s paradise only because the poet says that it creates such deep delight. Lines 2-! (his phrasing of these lines is unusual. Could is used as a conditional $erb here, and the entire sentence  becomes a speculation. If the poet can reco$er the dream, he #ill create a $ision of %aradise& the beauty of the $ision #ill transform the poet and enable him to use the music of his poetry to build #ith #ords #hat Kubla Khan had built in his !ingdom. (he poem lea$es unans#ered #hether or not the poet #ill be able to capture that dream. Lines "-$ ere, the poet describes the po#er of successful poetic $ision& not only can he rene# his $ision, but he has the po#er to con$ey it to all #ho hear or #ho read his #ords. (his ser$es as a contrast to the Khan)s  pleasure2dome, bound by #alls, and not meant for all to use. Lines %-!2 All those around the poet are #ary of him because he is caught up in a !ind of enchantment or madness during his $ision. is eyes glitter in a fren"y of creati$ity. (his creati$ity, li!e that of the sacred ri$er, comes from tumult. e is $ie#ed #ith holy dread because he has dra#n his $ision from a place similar  to the chasm described earlier, a place sacred and enchanted, pagan yet blessed. (he idea of the poet  being possessed by his $ision is not ne# #ith Coleridge. (he 0ree!s belie$ed that creati$ity #as often a type of momentary madness. Lines !3-! oney2de# refers to the s#eet honey2li!e substance that certain flo#ers, such as honeysuc!le, produce in the summer. Another #ord for this li+uid is nectar, !no#n as the food of the gods. ;ith his #ords, the  poet, #hen he achie$es his dream, can combine the chasm and the gardens, and taste %aradise. =ource Exploring Poetry, 0ale, 1>>?.@ ANNOTATIONS 1.  Xanadu  Kubla KhanBs legendary capital in China. Marco %olo has gi$en a detailed description of Kubla KhanBs court and its grandeur. (he passage in  Purchas His Pilgrimage  to #hich Coleridge refers is as follo#s In -amdu did Cublai Can build a stately %alace, encompassing si'teene miles of plaine ground #ith a #all, #herein are fertile Meddo#es, pleasant prings, delightful treames, and all sorts of beasts of chase and game, and in the middest thereof a sumptuous house of pleasure. 6.  stately  splendid, grand. 3.  pleasure-dome  a lu'ury palace. ere domeB is used to mean a magnificent structure #ith the usual architectural features li!es domes, arches, pillars,etc. F. decree  order Gto be builtH. . 19. 11. 16. 13. 1F. 1. 69. 61. 66. 63. 6F. 6.

39. 31. 36. 33. 3F. 3. F9. F1. F6. F3. FF. F.