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.
Summary of Kubla Khan
Popularity of "Kubla Khan": "Kubla Khan", a highly visionary poem by S.Coleridge, is a masterpiece of romantic poetry published in 1816, yet retains its romantic appeal and artistic touch, written to make a luxurious one To describe the palace of a Chinese king, Kubla Khan, about whom the poet read somewhere. The poet was recognized for his appealing images and the way he painted a vivid and perfect picture of this palace.
"Kubla Khan", a representation of a dream: the poem explores art and romance leading to painting a dream world be used. The expression of beauty runs through the poem. Tolerance has skillfully applied the "willful lifting of disbelief", knowing that the palace is a dreamland. He presented it to enchant and inspire readers by describing the delightful and fascinating beauty of a dream.
Main Topics in "Kubla Khan": The poem has different themes. Due to its romantic tradition, it is presented different versions of the reality of the palace that the poet presented through his imagination. The second theme concerns man and his importance in the natural world as portrayed by Kubla Khan himself. The concept of time and the permanence of art are also the other thematic strands Coleridge introduces.
Analysis of literary devices in “Kubla Khan”
Literary devices such as parables, personification and irony are very important elements of any literary text. These devices add richness and clarity to the text. In addition, the use of literary devices makes the text so that a reader can use it in imagination like "Kubla Khan". Here is the analysis of some of the literary devices used in this poem.
1) Parable: Parable is a phrase that compares two things with different properties to present a descriptive description of an object or person. There is a parable in which the poem in line 21 is used as "huge fragments arched like hail bouncing off". The fragments were compared to pieces of hailstorm to show their effects.
2) Personification: Personification is the assignment of human characteristics to an inanimate object. Coleridge used the personification in the first stanza, in which he says, "as if this earth were breathing in a pair of quick, thick pants," and compared the earth to a breathing human being. He also personified rocks in line 23 as "the dancing rocks". Dancing is a human quality, but the poet attributed this quality to rocks.
3) Metaphor: The poem contains two metaphors. The first is used on the twelfth line, which is a "deep romantic chasm". Here the "deep romantic chasm" represents the poet's creativity and deep imagination. The second is used in the last stanza like "Woman whines for her demon lover". Here “waiting” is metaphorical for the desire for love.
4) Synecdoche: Synecdoche is a literary medium in which a part of something represents the whole. Synecdoche used tolerance in line 19 as “A mighty well was temporarily forced”, where the well was forced to be used for the waterfall or stream that comes forcibly from a ravine.
5) Assonance: Assonance is a repetition of the vowels in the same line as the sounds of / e / in “deep joy”, “A stately pleasure dome decree” and / a / tone in “Through caverns that are immeasurable for humans . ”
6) Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant tones such as / d / tone in“ deep joy ”, / t / in“ quick, thick pants breathing ”and / f / tone in“ from the well ”.
7) Apostrophe: Apostrophe is a device with which you can call someone or something remotely. Here the poet used an apostrophe to warn someone: “Be careful! Caution! ”Which means that he is calling an anonymous person to be on alert.
9) Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant tones in the same lines of verse as the use of / s / sound in“ Sympathy and Song ”.
The analysis shows that Coleridge's use of literary means helped him to present a complete and luxurious picture of the palace of Kubla Khan and the beauty in this area.
Analysis of Poetic Devices in "Kubla Khan"
Although most poetic devices have the same properties as literary devices, there are some that can only be used in poetry. The analysis of some poetic devices is given below.
1) Verse: The poem is divided into two parts and four stanzas. The poet applied the mixture of tetrameter and pentameter to these undefined stanzas.
2) Rhyme scheme: Since the poem does not follow an organized structure, the rhyme scheme varies from stanza to stanza .
3) Iambic rhyme meter: This means that the meter does not have regular feet in each line has. In some lines there are four or five meters, e.g. B. the first two lines in tetrimeters, but lines 8 and 9 in pentimeters.
4) Repetition: There is a repetition of the phrase "amusement fate" which improves the musical quality of the poem.
5) Refrain: The lines that are repeated at some distance in the poems are called the refrain. The words “caves are immeasurable to man” are repeated and used in lines 4 and 29 with the same words as the refrain.
This analysis shows that the poet skillfully used refrains, meter and stanza forms to accomplish his goal of describing a dream.
Use quotes from "Kubla Khan"
The lines given could be quoted when teaching about supernatural objects People crying out of fear and bring screams.
“And all who heard it should see them there,
And everyone should cry, be careful! Caution! ”
These two lines could be used in the speech to tell of past adventures or expeditions to a wonderland.
“It was a miracle of the rare device,
A sunny pleasure dome with ice caves!
Popular Literary Devices
- Ad Hominem
- Adage
- Allegory
- Alliteration
- Allusion
- Ambiguity
- Anachronism
- Anagram
- Analogy
- Anapest
- Anaphora
- Anecdote
- Antagonist
- Antecedent
- Antimetabole
- Antithesis
- Aphorism
- Aposiopesis
- Apostrophe
- Archaism
- Archetype
- Argument
- Assonance
- Biography
- Cacophony
- Cadence
- Caricature
- Catharsis
- Characterization
- Cliché
- Climax
- Colloquialism
- Comparison
- Conflict
- Connotation
- Consonance
- Denotation
- Deus Ex Machina
- Dialect
- Dialogue
- Diction
- Didacticism
- Discourse
- Doppelganger
- Double Entendre
- Ellipsis
- Epiphany
- Epitaph
- Essay
- Ethos
- Eulogy
- Euphemism
- Evidence
- Exposition
- Fable
- Fallacy
- Flash Forward
- Foil
- Foreshadowing
- Genre
- Haiku
- Half Rhyme
- Hubris
- Hyperbaton
- Hyperbole
- Idiom
- Imagery
- Induction
- Inference
- Innuendo
- Internal Rhyme
- Irony
- Jargon
- Juxtaposition
- Limerick
- Line Break
- Logos
- Meiosis
- Memoir
- Metaphor
- Meter
- Mood
- Motif
- Narrative
- Nemesis
- Non Sequitur
- Ode
- Onomatopoeia
- Oxymoron
- Palindrome
- Parable
- Paradox
- Parallelism
- Parataxis
- Parody
- Pathetic Fallacy
- Pathos
- Pentameter
- Persona
- Personification
- Plot
- Poem
- Poetic Justice
- Point of View
- Portmanteau
- Propaganda
- Prose
- Protagonist
- Pun
- Red Herring
- Repetition
- Rhetoric
- Rhyme
- Rhythm
- Sarcasm
- Satire
- Simile
- Soliloquy
- Sonnet
- Style
- Superlative
- Syllogism
- Symbolism
- Synecdoche
- Synesthesia
- Syntax
- Tautology
- Theme
- Thesis
- Tone
- Tragedy
- Tragicomedy
- Tragic Flaw
- Transition
- Utopia
- Verisimilitude