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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 4 & 5
There seems to be a break in the poem at Stanza 4, presumably marking the spot where the
poet was disturbed and thereupon forgot the essentials of his dream.
He tries to pick up the threads once again, speaking of the shadow of the dome falling on the
river. His imagery, however, has become confused. He says the dome was a miracle, and yet
there is the paradox of a sunny pleasure-dome but in caves of ice!
A very clear break then occurs as the poet no longer even attempts to pick up on the earlier
thread of the poem.
He now speaks of another vision -- part of the same dream, or a separate one entirely -- in
which he sees a young Abyssinian woman playing music on her dulcimer. Her song is of Mount
Abora, a mountain in Abyssinia or Ethiopia.
This vision too is fading quickly. Yet the poet believes that, if only he could remember the
dream, it would rekindle the excitement of it all -- and then he would attempt to rebuild the
pleasure-dome in his imagination.
There is extensive use of magical / mystical language in this final stanza: "weave a
(magical) circle", "holy dread", "honey-dew" and "milk of Paradise".
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:
The poem "Kubla Khan" has as a subtitle: "Or a Vision in a Dream. A Fragment."
- Are these words important for our understanding of the poem? Comment. (4)
[Need help?]
This is a question long debated in academic circles: how important is it to have an
understanding of the background of a poem or of the poet? Should one not simply accept the
poem at face value -- without reference to anything else?
The thing about "Kubla Khan", however, is that it is so obviously a mysterious poem and
largely disjointed that, like a dream, it doesn't really hold together, or make much sense. The
knowledge that Coleridge had probably been under the influence of opium -- for medicinal or
other reasons -- does therefore explain this disjointed aspect.
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- Does it make any difference to our understanding of the poem to know that the poet had
probably been under the influence of opium before writing? (4)
[Need help?]
"Kubla Khan" is a most disjointed and mystical / magical poem. Indeed, it does not really
make complete sense. An understanding, therefore, that the poet is recalling his visions from
a dream does allow us to understanding all this.
The realisation too that the poet had been disturbed while writing the poem and, upon his return
to pen and paper, had lost the thread of what he had been saying, does certainly help our
understanding of the fragmented lines at the end.
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Comment on the significance of the name "Alph" for the leading river running through
Xanadu. (4)
[Need help?]
Alpha is, of course, the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Furthermore, somewhere in
the Book of Revelations, Jesus Christ is described as "the Alpha and the Omega, the
first and the last".
Because of several other mystical images in this poem, it is probably also acceptable to portray
the River Alph in a mystical sense, i.e. the first river, the most important river. In this sense, are
we correct to see any link between the River Alph and the two first rivers of the Garden of Eden,
the Tigris and the Euphrates?
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"Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree."
"Here were forests ancient as the hills."
- Comment on the imagery in the above two lines. (4)
[Need help?]
Incense was made from a combination of various resins which, when burnt, gave off a most
fragrant smoke. The ancient churches used incense as an integral part of their devotions.
Indeed, incense is represented as giving honour to God. The "incense bearing trees"
therefore carry a double meaning of delightfully sweet smelling trees with an association with
holiness.
The concept of "forests as ancient as the hills" , on the other hand, carries the image of
everlasting peace. One of the first things that invading armies did was to cut down all the trees.
The olive branch, for example, represented peace for exactly that reason. If one came across
a grove of olive trees, it meant that peace had reigned in that area for a long time.
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Comment on the use of words bearing a religious / mystical / magical tone. (4)
[Need help?]
Think of words in this poem which have a magical / mystical overtone -- words such as:
"enchanted", "a waning moon", "haunted", "wailing",
"demon-lover". What is the significance of these words?
The chasm into which the river plunges is said to be "romantic". The forests are made
up of cedar trees which have religious significance. The place is "savage" yet
"holy" and "enchanted". There is a "waning moon", the place is
"haunted", and a woman 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 spells, leaving the women weeping for their return. Were-wolves and
such things are also connected to the waxing and waning moons.
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"As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing."
- What is particularly descriptive about the above line? (4)
[Need help?]
The earth appears to be alive, doesn't it? What figure of speech is this? If the earth were a
person, then what would you think is happening if that person were panting fast and thick?
Excitement? Fear? Energy?
A common image which Coleridge very probably had in mind is that of a woman in labour,
panting fast so as to give birth to her child. If that is so, what then is Coleridge telling us of his
view of Mother Earth?
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Somewhere in Stanza 4 or 5 is the point where Coleridge was disturbed. When he returned,
he had lost the thread of what he was saying.
- Can you identify where this break occurred? Give reasons for your answer. (4)
[Need help?]
It would appear that the disturbance came with the lines:
"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!"
One notices a certain repetition here. Once again are we told about "the caverns
measureless to man" and the lifeless ocean. And what about old Kubla hearing voices
prophesying war? It doesn't appear to have any part to play in the vision of the river.
It is probably here, therefore, that the poet returned but couldn't fully recollect the dream.
Instead, he attempted a little bit of repetition before taking up a totally new theme: that of the
Abyssinian maiden and her dulcimer.
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"For he on honey-dew hath fed, and drunk the milk of Paradise."
- These lines are also meant to paint a religious / magical picture. How? (4)
[Need help?]
These are very biblical words, are they not? Honey-dew reminds one of the manna eaten by
the Hebrews while wandering in the desert. Paradise was a land of "milk and honey".
John the Baptist, the holy man of the New Testament, was said to have eaten wild honey and
milk.
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