Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Summary and Line by Line Explanation
CBSE Class 12 English (Elective) Poem 4 – Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Summary, Explanation along with Difficult Word Meanings from Kaleidoscope Book Poetry
Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Summary – Are you looking for the summary, theme and lesson explanation for CBSE 12 English (Elective) Poem 4 – Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment from English Kaleidoscope Book Poetry. Get Lesson summary, theme, explanation along with difficult word meanings
CBSE Class 12 English (Elective) Poem 4- Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment
S.T. Coleridge
Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a poem that describes the vision of a pleasure dome created by the king of the Mongol dynasty, Kubla Khan. You will notice that this poem is incomplete. There is a reason behind this. In 1797, when Coleridge fell ill, some medicine was prescribed, from the effects of which he fell asleep in his chair while reading about Kubla Khan. In the three hours of profound sleep, he had a wonderful dream. On awakening, he distinctly recollected it, and began to write it down, when he was interrupted by a chance visitor. The poem thus remained incomplete.
- Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Summary
- Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Summary in Hindi
- Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Theme
- Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Explanation
- Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Poetic-Devices
Related:
Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Summary
In Xanadu, Kubla Khan, the Mongolian leader, ordered his servants to build a grand dome for enjoyment. Inside this dome flowed a holy river named Alph, which wound through vast caves that no one could measure. The Alph River descends through these caves and eventually reaches the sea, where sunlight cannot reach. To create this pleasure dome, the builders developed ten miles of fertile land with surrounding walls and towers. Inside the dome were gardens with sunny streams, fragrant trees, and forests as old as the hills. All this greenery flourished under the warm sun.
The speaker talked about the amazing beauty of a deep, narrow crack in the earth’s surface that cuts through lush hills surrounded by cedar trees. This area feels wild and chaotic, almost sacred as if a woman is mourning her lost lover beneath the waning moon. A strong surge of water erupts from this crack, creating a geyser of hot water and steam. The fountain’s force causes the ground to shake violently like a man gasping for breath after exercising hard. The speaker compares the rapid release of water from the fissure to his laboured gasps, painting a picture of intense energy in the landscape. The fountain sends rocks flying into the air to fall back down like hailstones. The river’s water also shoots upward. The river twists about five miles through the woods and valleys, leading to vast caves and rushing into the calm ocean. In the swirling waters of the river within these caves, Kubla Khan hears the voices of his ancestors predicting a war about to happen. The shadow of his pleasure dome reflects on the waves, blending echoes from the fountains and caves. The palace is unique, where summer and winter exist side by side. The top of the dome is warm in the sun, while the deep caves remain icy cold.
Then, Coleridge introduces a girl to create a Romantic feeling. He dreams of an unmarried young woman from an ancient part of Africa. She plays a musical instrument and sings about the legendary Mount Abora. Coleridge is inspired by Mount Amara, a mythical paradise mountain from John Milton’s Paradise Lost. He wants to replicate the sound of her instrument and song, which would bring him joy while he builds Kubla Khan’s pleasure dome, a bright dome with ice-filled caves in the sky. Those who hear it would see it in the sky and call out for caution. His vivid imagination would be filled with her beauty, shown by his bright eyes and flowing hair. His intense nature would scare them, leading them to protect themselves, as the readers would form a magical circle around him three times. To feel safe, the readers would shield their eyes in fear or respect in the presence of something divine. Artists like Coleridge, who have visionary experiences, deserve to be honoured like sacred figures because he has tasted the food of the gods in Greek mythology.
Summary of the Poem Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment in Hindi
ज़ानाडू में, मंगोलियाई नेता कुबला खान ने अपने सेवकों को आनंद के लिए एक भव्य गुंबद बनाने का आदेश दिया। इस गुंबद के अंदर अल्फ नामक एक पवित्र नदी बहती थी, जो विशाल गुफाओं से होकर बहती थी जिसे कोई माप नहीं सकता था। अल्फ नदी इन गुफाओं के माध्यम से उतरती है और अंततः समुद्र तक पहुँचती है, जहाँ सूरज की रोशनी नहीं पहुंच सकती है। इस आनंद गुंबद को बनाने के लिए, निर्माताओं ने आसपास की दीवारों और मीनारों के साथ दस मील उपजाऊ भूमि विकसित की। भीतर धूप वाली धाराओं, सुगंधित पेड़ों और पहाड़ियों जैसे पुराने जंगलों वाले बगीचे थे। यह सारी हरियाली गर्म धूप में पनपी।
वक्ता ने पृथ्वी की सतह में एक गहरी, संकीर्ण दरार की अद्भुत सुंदरता के बारे में बात की जो देवदार के पेड़ों से घिरी हरी-भरी पहाड़ियों से होकर गुजरती है। यह क्षेत्र जंगली और अराजक महसूस करता है, लगभग पवित्र जैसे कि एक महिला घटते चंद्रमा के नीचे अपने खोए हुए प्रेमी का शोक मना रही हो। इस दरार से पानी की एक तेज लहर निकलती है, जिससे गर्म पानी और भाप का एक गीजर बन जाता है। फव्वारे का बल जमीन को हिंसक रूप से हिलाता है, जैसे कि एक आदमी कड़ी मेहनत करने के बाद सांस के लिए हांफ रहा होता है। वक्ता ने खाई से पानी के तेजी से निकलने की तुलना अपने मेहनती हांफने से की, जिससे परिदृश्य में तीव्र ऊर्जा की तस्वीर सामने आई। कभी-कभी, फव्वारा हवा में उड़ने वाली चट्टानों को भेजता है, जो ओलावृष्टि की तरह नीचे गिरती हैं। नदी का पानी भी ऊपर की ओर बहता है। नदी जंगल और घाटियों के माध्यम से लगभग पाँच मील तक घूमती है, जिससे विशाल गुफाएँ बनती हैं और शांत समुद्र में बहती है। इन गुफाओं के भीतर नदी के घूमते पानी में, कुबला खान अपने पूर्वजों की आवाज़ सुनता है जो आने वाले युद्ध की भविष्यवाणी कर रहे हैं। उनके आनंद गुंबद की छाया लहरों पर प्रतिबिंबित होती है, फव्वारों और गुफाओं से प्रतिध्वनियों का मिश्रण। महल अद्वितीय है, जहाँ गर्मी और सर्दी साथ-साथ होती है। गुंबद का शीर्ष धूप में गर्म होता है, जबकि गहरी गुफाएं बर्फीली ठंडी रहती हैं।
कविता के इस भाग में, कोलरिज एक रोमांटिक भावना पैदा करने के लिए एक लड़की का परिचय देती है। वह अफ्रीका के एक प्राचीन भाग की एक अविवाहित युवती का सपना देखता है। वह एक संगीत वाद्य बजाती है और प्रसिद्ध माउंट अबोरा के बारे में गाती है। कोलरिज जॉन मिल्टन की पैराडाइज लॉस्ट से एक पौराणिक स्वर्ग पर्वत माउंट अमारा से प्रेरित है। वह उसके वाद्ययंत्र और उसके गीत की आवाज़ को दोहराना चाहता है, जो उसे खुशी देगा जब वह कुबला खान के आनंद गुंबद, आकाश में बर्फ से भरी गुफाओं के साथ एक उज्ज्वल गुंबद का निर्माण करेगा। जो लोग इसे सुनेंगे वे इसे आकाश में देखेंगे और सावधानी बरतने का आह्वान करेंगे। उनकी जीवंत कल्पना उनकी सुंदरता से भरी होगी, जो उनकी उज्ज्वल आंखों और बहते बालों से दिखाई देती है। उनका तीव्र स्वभाव उन्हें डरा देता था, जिससे वे खुद को बचाने के लिए प्रेरित होते थे, क्योंकि पाठक उनके चारों ओर तीन बार एक जादुई चक्कर लगाते थे। सुरक्षित महसूस करने के लिए, पाठक किसी दिव्य चीज़ की उपस्थिति में भय या सम्मान में अपनी आँखों की रक्षा करते थे। कोलरिज जैसे कलाकार, जिनके पास दूरदर्शी अनुभव हैं, पवित्र व्यक्तियों की तरह सम्मानित होने के हकदार हैं क्योंकि उन्होंने यूनानी पौराणिक कथाओं में देवताओं के भोजन का स्वाद चखा है।
Themes of the Poem Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment
Pleasant and Turbulent Poetic Visions
Samuel Coleridge uses pleasant and turbulent imagery to describe poetic visions as uncontrolled, raw, and turbulent, though they could be pleasant to the eyes. The imagery in the second stanza describes the creative flow as uncontrolled and raw through the fountain.
Fleeting Nature of Poetic Imagination
The fleeting nature of poetic imagination in comparison to the boundless nature. The introduction of the damsel with dulcimer in the third stanza is the halting point in the creative flow of his poetry, as he considers her a muse, whose symphony will inspire the poet to build the pleasure dome in the sky.
Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Poem Explanation
Stanza:
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.
Word meanings
Xanadu: an idyllic, exotic, or luxurious place
Kubla Khan founded the Mongol dynasty in China in the thirteenth century.
stately: impressive or grand in size, appearance, or manner.
dome: a rounded vault forming the roof of a building or structure, typically with a circular base.
decree: official order
Alph: river in Antarctica
sacred: holy
caverns: large caves
measureless: unlimited
girdle: surround
sinuous: many curves and turns
rills: a small stream
blossom: bloom
incense-bearing tree: a tropical tree that produces a fragrant gum or resin burned as incense.
ancient: of long ago
enfolding: surrounding
Explanation of the above stanza—In Xanadu, Kubla Khan, the Mongolian leader, ordered his servants to build a grand dome for enjoyment. Inside this dome flowed a holy river named Alph, which wound through vast caves that no one could measure. The Alph River descends through these caves and eventually reaches the sea, where sunlight cannot reach. To create this pleasure dome, the builders developed ten miles of fertile land with surrounding walls and towers. On one side of the ground, there were gardens with sunny streams, fragrant trees. On the other side of the ground, forests as old as the hills and plots of grassy land flourished under the warm sun.
In this stanza, the pleasure dome is a creative space, where inspiration (river) flows through the subconscious mind (caves), artistic imagination (garden) flourishes, only to be protected by the outside world (walls and tower).
Stanza:
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 a 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!
Word meaning
chasm: a deep narrow opening in the earth’s surface
slanted down: moving towards
athwart: from side to side of
cedarn: made from or resembling the wood of a cedar tree.
savage: fierce, violent, and uncontrolled.
enchanted: placed under a spell
beneath: below
waning: diminishing
haunted: frequented by a ghost
wailing: crying with pain, grief, or anger.
ceaseless: constant and unending
turmoil: chaos or violent disturbance
seething: boil or be turbulent as if boiling.
fast thick pants: the forceful, rapid expulsion of water from a chasm, likened to the heavy breaths of a person exerting, creating a sense of intense, almost violent energy in the natural landscape; essentially, it means a powerful, rushing flow that sounds like heavy, quick breathing
mighty: possessing great and impressive power or strength, especially because of size
swift: happen quickly
half-intermitted: to stop or pause at intervals, or to be in a state of partial interruption.
burst: break open or apart suddenly and violently, especially as a result of an impact or internal pressure.
vaulted like rebounding hail: something is leaping or bouncing upwards in a similar way to how hailstones bounce off the ground after falling from the sky, creating a powerful and dynamic image of forceful movement upwards.
vaulted: sudden, arched upward movement
rebounding hail: the way hailstones bounce back up after hitting the ground, emphasising the energetic, repeated motion.
chaffy: seed coverings and other debris that is separated from the seed when grain is threshed
thresher’s flail: a hand tool used to separate grains from their husks
flung up: to throw off
momently: continually
meandering: moving slowly
mazy: like a maze
dale: valley
tumult: a state of confusion or disorder.
prophesying: forecast
floated: rest or move on or near the surface of a liquid without sinking.
midway: towards the middle of something
mingle: mix or cause to mix.
Explanation of the above stanza—The speaker exclaimed the beauty of the deep narrow opening in the earth’s surface, that cut through the green hills, between the cedar trees. It’s a fierce, violent and uncontrolled place. The place was holy and captivating as if it were haunted by a woman crying for her demon lover under the fading moon in the sky. From this deep, narrow opening, the forceful expulsion of water, that is, a fountain of hot water and steam, comes through. The fountain gushing out of the earth leads to constant violent trembling of the earth, as if the man is breathing hard in the fast thick pants. The speaker has used personification to compare the forceful, rapid expulsion of water from a chasm which leads to earth’s constant violent turbulence to the heavy breaths exerted by a man, creating a sense of intense, almost violent energy in the natural landscape. The fountain in intervals threw fragments of rocks in the sky which fell on the ground like hailstones in all directions from the sky, or the seed coverings flew when flogged. With rocks, the water of the river too flew in the air. The river ran up to five miles, moving slowly in a maze-like motion, through the woods and valley, reaching the vast caves no man could measure, and sinking violently into the still ocean. In the rushing water of the river through these vast caves, Kubla Khan heard his ancestors’ voices, forecasting about war. The shadow of the Kubla Khan pleasure dome was reflected on the waves, where the mixed echoing sound could be heard from fountains and caves. The palace is a rare sight, where summer and winter combine. The top of the dome was warm as it was sunny, while the vast caves were cooled by ice.
In this stanza, Coleridge has described the raw, powerful forces of the creative imagination that are beyond human control through chasm imagery. The chaotic creative force erupts (fountain), which gives birth to the poem (the fragments of rocks thrown by a fountain) to sink into the unconscious mind (the ocean). The inspiration (river) flows through this creative process. The prophecy of war that Kubla Khan receives symbolises the problems of humanity and how those problems interrupt artists as they aim to create. The shadow of the dome of pleasure symbolises the elusive, almost unattainable nature of creative inspiration and the potential for beauty and darkness within the creative process, essentially representing the fleeting, mysterious quality of artistic vision that the speaker is trying to capture in his dream-like poem.
Stanza:
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 honeydew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
Word meanings
damsel: a young unmarried woman.
dulcimer: a musical instrument; dulcimer comes from the Latin and Greek words dulce and melos, which combine to mean “sweet tune”.
vision: the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.
Abyssinian: ancient region in the Horn of Africa, modern-day Ethiopia
Mount Abora: a mythical mountain. Coleridge was inspired by Mount Amara, a paradise-like mythical mountain in John Milton’s Paradise Lost.
revive: restore to life
symphony: musical composition
delight: happiness
’twould: it would
flashing: shining brightly for a brief period
holy dread: a feeling of great fear or awe in the presence of something sacred or holy, or to a fear of God.
Explanation of the above stanza—In this stanza, Coleridge introduces a girl to complete the picture of Romantic atmosphere. He once saw in his dream that there was an unmarried, young girl, who came from an ancient region in the Horn of Africa, with a musical instrument, singing a song about the mythical mountain, Mount Abora. Coleridge was inspired by Mount Amara, a paradise-like mythical mountain mentioned in John Milton’s poem – Paradise Lost. Coleridge wishes to recreate the sound of her instrument and her song, which would bring him happiness as he would build Kubla Khan’s pleasure-dome, the sunny dome with caves filled with ice, in the sky. Everyone who could hear it could see it in the sky, and then cry out to be careful. His inspired imagination would be awestruck with its beauty, created by his flashing eyes and floating hair. His wild conditions would frighten them, that they would guard themselves, and the readers would confine him within a magical circle three times. To protect themselves, the reader would close their eyes with fear or awe in the presence of God.
For artists like Coleridge with visionary experiences, they should be revered like holy figures, as he has drunk ambrosia or the nectar of the gods in Greek mythology.
This stanza depicts the lost muse or source of inspiration that the poet desperately seeks to recapture after a sudden interruption in his creative vision, representing the broken flow of poetic creation and the longing to return to the peak of imaginative power. The speaker’s pleasure dome is a powerful, almost supernatural figure with an intense gaze and wild hair, suggesting a mystical or dangerous presence that should be cautiously approached by creating a protective circle around him, possibly to ward off his otherworldly power. The flashing eyes and floating hair have an otherworldly quality to this figure. The act of weaving a circle around him thrice is a ritualistic attempt to protect oneself from this powerful being. This supernatural figure is a representation of the speaker’s creative power, which is both awe-inspiring and potentially overwhelming.
Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Poetic Devices
Alliteration
In alliteration, consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables are repeated to grasp the reader’s attention, making them focus on a particular line or section. Some of the instances Coleridge has alliteration in the poem are ‘Kubla Khan’, ‘dome decree’, ‘river, ran’, ‘sunless sea’, ‘sunny spots’, ‘measureless to man’, ‘With walls’, ‘cedarn cover’, ‘miles meandering’, ‘mazy motion’, ‘he on honeydew hath’, ‘deep delight’, ‘symphony and song’, ‘loud and long’, ‘woman wailing’ and ‘mingled measure’.
Assonance
Assonance is a figure of speech that is characterised by the use of words with similar vowel sounds. Some of the instances Coleridge has used Assonance are ‘stately pleasure-dome decree’, ‘sunless sea’, ‘twice five miles of fertile’, ‘incense-bearing tree’, ‘caverns measureless’, ‘bright with sinuous rills’, ‘there were gardens’, ‘an Abyssinian maid’,
‘her dulcimer she played’, ‘I revive within’, ‘His flashing eyes, his floating hair!’, ‘miracle of rare device’, ‘Five miles meandering’, ‘momently the sacred river’, ‘Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding’, ‘like rebounding hail’, ‘A savage place!’, ‘beneath the thresher’s’.
Consonance
Consonance is the poetic device that uses words with similar consonant sounds in a sentence or a particular context. Coleridge has used Consonance in the instances like ‘sunless sea’, ‘towers were girdled round’, ‘sacred river, ran’, ‘he on honey-dew hath’, ‘who heard should see them there’, ‘sacred river ran’, ‘beneath the thresher’s’, ‘mighty fountain momently’, ‘this earth in fast thick pants were breathing’, ‘for her demon-lover!’ and ‘athwart a cedarn cover’.
Symbolism
Symbolism is a literary device that uses one thing to represent another. The pleasure-dome symbolises imaginative creation. Xanadu can symbolise a luxurious, exotic, or idyllic place. The River Alph symbolises the creative flow that originates from the subconscious. Cavern symbolises the subconscious mind, where primal thoughts and emotions reside. The garden symbolises a harmonious blend between nature and human creativity, representing an idealised space where the power of imagination can flourish. The walls and towers symbolise the boundaries and protective barriers to protect artistic imagination against the outside world. The chasm symbolises a deep, mysterious, and untamed aspect of nature. It also represents the unconscious mind or the raw, powerful forces of creativity that are beyond human control. The mighty fountain erupts from a chasm, symbolising a chaotic, creative force. The fragments of rock thrown by a fountain symbolise the energy of creation and birth of the poem ‘Kubla Khan’, which is also in fragments. The sacred river represents the source of inspiration that flows through the creative process. The lifeless ocean symbolises the contrast between the earthly and sacred realms, which emphasises the Romantic theme of the inadequacy of mortal life and the dangerous pursuit of immortality through creativity. The prophecy of war that Kubla Khan receives symbolises the problems of humanity and how those problems interrupt artists as they aim to create. The demon lover symbolises the destructive power of passionate love. The shadow of the dome of pleasure symbolises the elusive, almost unattainable nature of creative inspiration and the potential for beauty and darkness within the creative process, essentially representing the fleeting, mysterious quality of artistic vision that the speaker is trying to capture in his dream-like poem. The damsel is a muse-like figure who inspires the speaker to create a dome in the air.
Imagery
Imagery is a literary device that uses figurative language to evoke a sensory experience or to paint a picture for the reader with words. The imagery of the chasm and the earth’s pantings creates a powerful emotional experience typical of Romantic poetry. The chasm’s aliveness is unsettling and closely linked to dark supernatural forces. The speaker’s pleasure dome is a powerful, almost supernatural figure with an intense gaze and wild hair, suggesting a mystical or dangerous presence that should be cautiously approached by creating a protective circle around him, possibly to ward off his otherworldly power. The flashing eyes and floating hair have an otherworldly quality to this figure. The weaving a circle round him thrice is a ritualistic attempt to protect oneself from this powerful being. This supernatural figure represents the speaker’s creative power, which is both awe-inspiring and potentially overwhelming.
Personification
Personification is a figure of speech that is used to attribute human characteristics to something that is not human. In Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem Kubla Khan, personification is used to give human-like qualities to nature. For example, the sacred river is described as ‘runs’ and ‘meanders with a mazy motion’. This gives the river a powerful and mystical presence as it flows through the landscape. The line ‘the dancing rocks’ also personifies the rocks by suggesting they can dance, creating an image of movement and energy in the scene. Additionally, the ‘pleasure-dome’ is personified with phrases like ‘His flashing eyes, his floating hair’. This gives the dome an almost supernatural life and presence, suggesting it is a powerful, visionary entity.
Oxymoron
An oxymoron is a figure of speech, usually one or two words, in which seemingly contradictory terms appear side by side.
The ‘sunless sea’ and ‘lifeless ocean’ symbolise the contrast between the earthly and sacred realms to emphasise the Romantic theme of the inadequacy of mortal life and the dangerous pursuit of immortality through creativity. The ‘holy dread’ is a feeling of great fear or awe of those who have heard his creations in the presence of something sacred or holy. The Demon lover is an oxymoron where Demon represents darkness, evil, and destruction, while lover signifies affection, tenderness, and connection. The demon lover symbolises the destructive power of passionate love.
Repetition
Repetition in poetry is the repetition of words, phrases, lines, or stanzas. It is a poetic device that’s used to create rhythm, emphasize ideas or feelings, or create a sense of urgency. Coleridge has repeated the line, ‘caverns measureless to man’ to represent the subconscious mind, the creative potential and the vastness of nature are beyond human capacity to fully quantify.
Allusion
Allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to someone or something by name without explaining how it relates to the given context so that the audience must realise the connection in their minds. Ancestral voices is an allusion to the violent history of the Mongols, specifically Kubla Khan’s conquests, which led to the establishment of his empire. It represents the collective memory of past wars and bloodshed, which even a powerful ruler like Kubla Khan cannot fully escape. The honeydew and the milk of paradise are similar to ambrosia and the nectar of the gods in Greek mythology.
Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two things by saying one thing is the other. The metaphor ‘measureless to man’ emphasises the vastness and unquantifiable nature of the creative potential within the mind. The deep romantic chasm is a metaphor for the poet’s creative imagination or subconscious mind.
Extended Metaphor
An extended metaphor compares a subject to another thing using multiple points of contact. In Kubla Khan, the pleasure dome and the flowing river Alph serve as extended metaphors. They represent the poet’s creative imagination. The river’s course shows how inspiration comes and goes, emphasising the strengths and possible weaknesses of creative vision. Overall, the poem acts as a metaphor for the creative process itself. The ‘fountain’ represents the beautiful, serene aspect, while the ‘caves’ symbolise the more mysterious and potentially destructive forces. The ‘mingled measure’ suggests opposing forces are not entirely separate. It is a metaphor for the creative process, where inspiration (fountain) is combined with the subconscious or darker elements (caves) to produce a unique artistic vision.
Hyperbole
The hyperbole is the poetic device that gives a dream-like quality to the poem, where the boundaries of reality are blurred and the imagination takes precedence. In Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem Kubla Khan, the author uses hyperbole to describe the ‘caverns measureless to man’ and the ‘sunless sea’. This exaggeration highlights the immense size and darkness of these features, emphasising the vast and mysterious nature of Xanadu, the palace of Kubla Khan. The description creates an image of an incredibly grand and daunting landscape.
Conclusion
The poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is an insight into the fleeting yet dangerous artistic imagination of the poet’s vision. Students can take help from the post to understand the lesson and also learn the difficult word meanings to get a better grasp of the poem. This post includes the summary of Kubla Khan, which will help students of class 12 to get a quick recap of the story.