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It is said that the poet had been smoking opium -- for medicinal or other purposes? -- while
reading a book on the famous Kubla Khan, first emperor of the Mogul dynasty in China. The
poet fell asleep and had a bizarre dream.
When he awakened, he attempted to capture the dream in poetry but was disturbed towards
the end. When he returned to the poem, however, his thoughts had faded and he could no
longer remember his vision. The poem nevertheless catches this dreamlike, magical quality.
STANZA 2, 3 & 4
The poet emphasizes the magical quality of the land of Xanadu. The chasm into which the
River Alph plunges is said to be "romantic". The forests are made up of cedars, trees
which have particular significance in the Bible.
The place, the poet says, is "savage" and yet "holy" and "enchanted".
There is also a "waning moon" -- the moon which is often connected with both romance
and demons. Furthermore, the place is "haunted" by a woman who wails for her
"demon-lover".
One author suggests that the poet is referring here to magical places where people could easily
disappear because of the presence of spells, leaving the women weeping for their return.
Werewolves and other such monsters are associated with the waxing and waning moons.
The place is also in a state of great physical unrest. A mighty fountain of water jets up from the
chasm in gusts as if it is panting. Within this water are huge fragments -- ice? rocks? --
which are flung into the air and then, falling back, bounce around the ground like hail, or like
wheat which flies around when being hit by the thresher's flail.
From there the river meanders for five miles until it reaches the caves, where it falls in a great
cataract into the underground sea. Into this cacophony of sound Kubla Khan hears the voices
of the ancestors prophesying war.
The poet, however, was disturbed and, when he returned, the dream was already fading.
Instead he takes up another but totally unconnected theme -- that of a young Abyssinian girl
who is playing on her dulcimer.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
"But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!"
- The poet speaks of a "cedarn cover"? Why would the poet have particularly chosen
cedar trees? (2)
[Need help?]
Like incense, cedar trees have a significant religious image. These trees were always
considered to be holy trees in the Bible. King Solomon's temple, for instance, was built using
cedar trees from Lebanon. Indeed, the cedars of Lebanon are also often mentioned in the
Psalms.
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"A savage place! as holy and enchanted
As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!"
- The pleasure dome is contrasted with the "savage place". What words show this
contrast? (4)
[Need help?]
Think of words in the poem which have a magical / mystical overtone -- words like:
"enchanted", "a waning moon", "haunted", "wailing",
"demon-lover". What is the significance of these words?
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"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."
- Xanadu is also described as a threatening place, a land of uncontrolled violence and chaos.
What words show this? (4)
[Need help?]
Think of words which have an overtone of violence -- words like: "turmoil", "fast thick
pants", "a mighty fountain was forced", "burst huge fragments", "vaulted
like rebounding hail".
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"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!"
- Name the language device (figure of speech) used in the first line above and then explain
its purpose. (4)
[Need help?]
The language device is alliteration, i.e. the repetition of the consonant "m": "miles
meandering mazy motion".
There is a certain laziness associated with the consonant "m". For instance, when we are
feeling really lazy and are enjoying ourselves, we are likely to say, "Mmmmm!" The poet
uses the repetition of the "m" then to give an impression of a slow moving, languid and lazy
river.
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- Why would the poet fall into a repetition of images here: speaking again about the caverns
measureless to man and the lifeless ocean? And what about old Kubla hearing these voices
that were prophesying war? (4)
[Need help?]
In the summary -- left column -- it is mentioned that the poet had been attempting to capture
his vivid dream but was then disturbed. When he returned, however, the dream was beginning
to fade.
It is probably at this point that the poet returned -- but the dream was already fading and the
poet could only repeat earlier snatches of the fantasy. The next stanza, then, speaks of
something that is entirely different.
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"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!"
- How could the shadow of the dome of pleasure float "midway on the waves"?
(4)
[Need help?]
This line would appear to be open to differing interpretations. It could refer simply to the fact
that the shadow of the dome was falling at a particular line on the waves. On the other hand,
there is a feeling that perhaps the dome itself was floating, causing its shadow to move about
on the waves.
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- What was the miracle of "rare device"? (2)
[Need help?]
Was the "miracle of rare device" the fact that the pleasure dome appeared to float above
the waves? Or was it that the pleasure dome was situated underground, in frozen caves -- and
yet it was sunny?
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"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."
[Need help?]
Abyssinia is an old colonial name for the African state of Ethiopia.
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- Would there be any reason why the poet would have dreamt of an Abyssinian maid?
(4)
[Need help?]
Ethiopia is an ancient country whose roots are said to go right back to biblical days. It is
believed that the Queen of Sheba who visited the biblical King Solomon came from Ethiopia.
There is therefore a magical, mystical association with Abyssinia -- and the damsel of his
dreams might easily have been a young Queen of Sheba.
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- What kind of instrument is a "dulcimer"? (2)
[Need help?]
A dulcimer is a form of guitar or zither, an instrument which is played with the fingers.
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