Introduction
Kubla Khan: or, A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment is a poem by the Romantic poet Coleridge, completed in 1797 and published in 1816. As it was narrated in the preface, “he was reading Purchas his Pilgrimage by Samuel Purchas [written in 1625], a work describing Shangdu or Xanadu, the summer capital of the Yuan dynasty founded by the Mangol Emperor Kubla Khan and fell asleep after reading. He then continued for about three hours in a profound sleep, during which time he had the most vivid confidence, that he could not have composed less than from two or three hundred lines. On Awaking he appeared to himself to have a distinct recollection of the whole, and taking his pen, ink, and paper, instantly and eagerly wrote down the lines that are here preserved.” “At this moment he was unfortunately called out by a person on business from Porlock... and on his return to his room, found, to his surprise and embarrassment, that though he still retained some vague and dim recollection of the general purpose of the vision, yet, with the exception of some eight or ten scattered lines and images, all the rest had passed away.”
Form of the Poem
The poem is divided into three irregular stanzas, in which the speaker moves loosely between different times and places. The meter employed is Iambic Tetrameter- a line consisting four iambic feet. A tetrameter line has four iambic feet; an iambic foot contains two syllables, one unstressed followed by one stressed.
Stanza 1
In Xanadu did Kubla ......... a sunless sea.
The first stanza is a description of Kubla Khan’s majestic pleasure- dome which was built in the capital city of Xanadu at his command. Kubla Khan was the grandson of the legendary Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan. It was a place where the sacred River Alph flowed through the vast caves (cavern measureless to man) and fell down to a sunless sea - where there was no sunlight.
- Alph may be an allusion to the river Alpheus, a river in Greece that was made famous in classical literature.
So twice five miles .......... spots of greenery.
The capital city of Kubla Khan was built in a fertile land of about 10 miles (10 square kilometers) surrounded by walls and towers protecting them (walls and towers were girdled round). There were beautiful gardens where through streamlets flowed in a zigzag manner (sinuous rills). There were many trees with sweet fragrant flowers (many an incense-bearing trees). These sunny spots of greenery were enclosed by forests as old as the hills (forests as ancient as the hills).
Stanza 2
But oh! that deep romantic .......... her demon-lover!
In the second stanza continues the description of Kubla Khan’s capital city. There was a green hill and a deep chasm (abyss) slanted down the hill across thickly grown cedar trees (athwart a cedarn cover). The place seemed to him as a savage place, as an enchanted place haunted by a woman weeping for her demon-lover under the light of the fading moon.
And from this chasm......... was forced:
A powerful fountain gushed forth with great turbulence from this abyss (chasm) violently and continuously. It was like the earth surrounding the fountain was breathing heavily with quick and short breaths. (The sound of rushing water seemed to the poet like ‘fast thick pants’ of the earth as if it was tired from doing some heavy work.)
Amid whose swift ........... the sacred river.
Huge fragments of rocks tossed up and fell down intermittently like hailstones from the sky (like rebounding hail); or like chaffy grain raining down when beaten with a flail (a tool used in the past to separate grain from their outer layer). Amidst these dancing rocks the sacred river Alph poured out continuously.
Five miles meandering ......... prophesying war!
The sacred river Alph flowed through woods and valley wandering in a zigzag way (meandering with a mazy motion). Then it reached the caverns, the depth and breadth of which cannot be measured by man (caverns measureless to man). Finally, the river fell down with a commotion (sank in tumult) into the calm and tranquil ocean (lifeless ocean). In the midst of this great noise, Kubla Khan heard the voices of his ancestors foretelling the coming war (Ancestral voices prophesying war). Kubla Khan became addicted to a luxury in his pleasure dome. So, his ancestors urged him to shake off his luxurious life and be ready to adventures and wars.
The shadow of ......... with caves of ice!
The shadow or the reflection of the pleasure dome floated midway on the waves in the river. The mixed sound (mingled measure) of water flowing in the river and the echo created by the caves was heard from there. The palace was a miracle created by rare architectural design (a miracle of rare device) which combined a summer and winter palace; the dome was open to the sun while its underground chambers were kept cool by ice (A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!)
Stanza 3
A damsel with ........ Mount Abora.
In the third stanza the poet starts describing another vision he had seen earlier. He had seen an Abyssinian girl singing about Mount Abora on her dulcimer (a musical instrument with strings).
Could I revive .......... see them there,
Now the poet remembers the powerful music he once heard in the vision. He wishes if he could revive the ravishing music of that Abyssinian girl. Such a powerful music would make him and his ideas more attractive and appealing to the people. He imagines that with such a music he would build the amazing pleasure dome of Kubla Khan in the air. All those who heard his song about the sunny dome and the surrounding landscape should see them there.
And all should cry ......... milk of Paradise.
People who witnessed this magic would cry out: “Be careful! Look at his flashy wild eyes and floating unkempt hair! (They would stand awestruck seeing his flashing eyes and floating hair). Draw a circle around him three times. Close your eyes with devotion (holy dread). He had eaten honey-dew (heavenly food) and drunk the milk of paradise.” (The poet has tasted the manna and nectar of divine poetic inspiration)