Kubla Khan

Poem Summary

Lines 1-2

In these lines, Coleridge introduces Kubla Khan, ruler of the Mongol Empire in China during the
thirteenth century A! "is #ingdom symboli$ed %ealth and mystery to Europeans e&er since
Marco 'olo first %rote about his tra&els there( throughout the poe m, Coleridge builds a sense of
the e)otic and mysterious *he second line emphasi$es Kubla Khan+s po%er as he orders a fitting
 palace for himself It also hints at one of the many contrasts that
that %ill appear in the poem as the
%ord stately con&eying the grandeur and ma.esty of Kubla Khan+s creation, is paired %ith the
idea of a pleasure dome, a place of lu)ury and leisure

*he opening images of the poem bear stri#ing similarities to the follo%ing /uotation from
'urchas+s Pilgrimage,
'urchas+s Pilgrimage, %hich
 %hich Coleridge said he %as reading immediately before he drifted into
his deep sleep0

In amdu did Cublai Can builde a stately

a stately 'alace,
 'alace, encompassing si)teene miles of
miles of plaine ground 
plaine ground 
%ith a wall, %herein
wall, %herein are fertile
are fertile Meddo%es,
 Meddo%es, pleasant springs, delightful treames, and all sorts of
 beasts of chase and game, and in the middest thereof a suptuous house of pleasure.”
of pleasure.”

As you loo# through the first eight lines, notice the %ords that Coleridge has borro%ed It is also
interesting to notice the changes %hich he
h e made 3or e)ample, anadu
anad u fits the poem+s iambic
tetrameter, %here amdu %ould not

Line 4

Khan chooses to build this dome ono n the site of a sacred ri&er, %hich Coleridge calls the Alph
Although no ri&er %ith this name e)ists, the name itself suggests or has the connotation of a
 beginning *his is because Alph
Alph is so similar to Alpha, the first letter
letter of the 5ree# alphabet,
%hich has as an alternate meaning, beginning Coleridge, li#e many poets, li#es to e)periment
%ith language and in&ent %ords
%o rds to pro&ide added guides to meaning
mea ning Critics ha&e also identified
the Alph %ith such different ri&ers as the 6ile, the Alpheus ri&er in 5reece, and the fourth ri&er
to flo% out of the 5arden of Eden 6ote that the %ord ri&er is al%ays accompanied by the
ad.ecti&e sacred ince ri&ers and %ater are life-gi&ing, the sacred ri&er may be seen as a
symbol of life

Lines 7-8

A second contrast is introduced %ith these lines After

After the ri&er lea&es the area %here Kubla
Khan creates his #ingdom, it flo%s beyond man +s reach
reach into a series of underground ca&erns
Measureless to man con&eys not only ca&erns that man cannot physically
ph ysically map, but areas that
are beyond the reach of his full comprehension *he ri&er has as its ultimate destination the

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Kubla Khan

sunless sea, a place %ithout light and life an d a complete contrast to the earlier impression of the
ri&er

Lines 9-:

In these lines, Coleridge returns to the construction of Khan+s #ingdom *en miles of land, %hich
are e)ceptionally rich, are enclosed behind a %all %ith to%ers to protect it *he pleasure dome is
not a public sight a&ailable to an yone %ho %ishes to &isit It is a pri&ate domain *his ma#es it
/uite different from the poet+s creation that %ill be discussed later in the poem

Lines ;-11

"ere another contrast is introduced *he gardens, planted or culti&ated areas designed by
humans, fill part of the area %ith brightly colored flo%ers and s%eet smelling trees, %atered by
numerous %inding broo#s that branch off from the sacred ri&er *hese gardens are set among
ancient forests, %hich ha&e been there as long as the land itself *he ri&er and forests pro&ide an
ageless bac#drop for Khan+s dream Although Coleridge notes the differences bet%een Khan+s
 planned estate and nature+s realm, both seem to e)ist in a harmonious balance *he #ingdom
described in lines 9 to 11 is created by using an e&ocati&e series of images of an earthly paradise,
 perhaps e&en a type of Eden

Lines 12-14

Line 12 begins by signaling ne% and e&en greater contrasts that the follo%ing lines %ill de&elop
as they describe the deep crac# in the earth hidden under the gro&e of cedar trees

Line 17

*his is no artificial or manmade place It is unreached by culti&ation and ci&ili$ation, a magic

and e&en blessed spot that e)ists outside of man+s understanding *he calm and balance of lines ;
through 11 are missing in this primiti&e, %ild place <hen holy and enchanted are .oined
together in this description, they con&ey a sense of the pagan and the supernatural

Lines 18-19

Coleridge uses a simile to sho% the distance of this site from Khan+s imposing gardens *he
%aning moon describes that period as the moon decreases from full, so less and less of it is
&isible *hus, this mysterious chasm is compared to a spot haunted b y a %oman crying in
anguish, as the moon+s light diminishes, for her demon lo&er Any relationship bet%een a human
and the supernatural %ould be impossible in the balanced garden of Khan It could only e)ist in
the passionate uphea&al of the chasm

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Kubla Khan

Lines 1:-1=

*his mysterious chasm is pictured in constant turbulence, &ery different from the garden+s calm
ymbolist critics point out se)ual and birth imagery in these lines *he language ma#es it easy to
 picture the earth in labor, gi&ing birth to the fountain

Lines 2>-22

*he po%er of the fountain that pours forth the ri&er is apparent as huge boulders are tossed up
%ith the %ater *%o similes are used to illustrate this force In the first, the huge boulders are
compared to hail *he second ma#es them seem e&en lighter A thresher is a person or machine
%ho separates the useful, hea&ier part of a #ernel of grain from its lighter, useless shell or chaff
<hen the grain is hit %ith a flail, the #ernel drops do%n immediately into a container( the chaff
is blo%n a%ay by the %ind

Lines 24-2;

*he ne)t lines re&eal all the contradictions in the ri&er+s path Along %ith the boulders, the ri&er
emerges *he pre&ious similes describing the boulders both use images in&ol&ing stri#ing0 hail
hits the earth( the thresher hits the grain *he mood of lines 12-22 is of turmoil and uphea&al
After the roc#s lea&e the chasm, they are described again, using a gentler metaphor, as dancing
roc#s *his phrase is also an e)ample of personification, %here inanimate ob.ects are gi&en
human characteristics After its tumultuous beginning, the ri&er slo%ly ta#es a %andering path
through the gardens *he poet uses alliteration in line 2 8 to add a slo%, humming sound, %ith the
%ords miles, meandering, ma$y, and motion *he repetition of lines 4 to 8 in 29 to 2;
slo%s the pace as %ell

Lines 2=-4>

Although Khan+s gardens initially seem a place of peace and balance, Khan himself hears a
different message coming from the distant rumbles of the chasm and the ca&e *he tumult of the
ri&er issues a %arning that human creations are not permanent *he &oices of his ancestors
 pro&ide testimony to the fact that the greatest creations of the %orld e&entually come to ruin
*hus, too, the elegant dome is threatened %ith the destruction of %ar

Lines 41-47

*he &arious contrasts Coleridge has described in the p oem so far come together in these lines
*he poem returns to that part of this earthly paradise %hich Kubla Khan has constructed, the
 pleasuredome( ho%e&er, in these lines, it is not seen directly, merely as a shado% 6o% the
contrasting element, the turmoil of the fountain and the message of the ca&erns, seems to
o&ershado% the dome+s image, %arning that man+s creation is transitory( nature endures

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Kubla Khan

Lines 48-49

In these lines, Coleridge ends the first part of the poem, describing Kubla Khan and his %orld
*he meter returns to iambic pentameter here, gi&ing the lines a slo%er, measured /uality *his
meter helps to emphasi$e the mood of regret and loss in these lines as they summari$e Kubla
Khan+s creati&e achie&ement "e harmoni$ed opposing forces, sun and ice, in his miraculous
dome, %hich has since &anished %ithout trace

Lines 4:-4;

*he poet himself becomes the sub.ect as the poem mo&es from Kubla Khan+s physical creation
to the poet+s &ision as he recounts seeing a young girl playing a stringed musical instrument in a
dream *he poem shifts from third person to the first person, I 6ote that the meter also changes
again and becomes e&en more regular as the poem returns to the light, upbeat tempo of iambic
tetrameter throughout much of this stan$a

Lines 4=-71

Coleridge again in&ents or adapts names to con.ure a sense of mystery or the e)otic *he maid in
the &ision, li#e Kubla Khan, is from a foreign place Abyssinia is another name for Ethiopia
Mount Abora, li#e Alph, is a name that Coleridge created "o%e&er, se&eral critics note its
similarity to Mount Amara in Milton+s Paradise Lost. *he reader is not gi&en any details of the
&ision( no images are pro&ided *he reader may assume that Mount Abora is similar to Khan+s
 paradise only because the poet says that it creates such deep delight

Lines 72-78

*his phrasing of these lines is unusual Could is used as a conditional &erb here, and the entire
sentence becomes a speculation If the poet can reco&er the dream, he %ill create a &ision of
'aradise( the beauty of the &ision %ill transform the poet and enable him to use the music of his
 poetry to build %ith %ords %hat Kubla Khan had built in his #ingdom *he poem lea&es
unans%ered %hether or not the poet %ill be able to capture that dream

Lines 79-7;

"ere, the poet describes the po%er of successful poetic &ision( not only can he rene% his &ision,
 but he has the po%er to con&ey it to all %ho hear or %ho read his %ords *his ser&es as a contrast
to the Khan+s pleasure-dome, bound by %alls and not meant for all to use

Lines 7=-82

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Kubla Khan

All of those around the poet are %ary of him because he is caught up in a #ind of enchantment or 
madness during his &ision "is eyes glitter in a fren$y of creati&ity *his creati&ity, li#e that of
the sacred ri&er, comes from tumult "e is &ie%ed %ith holy dread bec ause he has dra%n his
&ision from a place similar to the chasm described e arlier, a place sacred and enchanted, pagan
yet blessed *he idea of the poet being possessed by his &ision is not ne% %ith Coleridge *he
5ree#s belie&ed that creati&ity %as often a type of momentary madness

Lines 84-87

"oney-de% refers to the s%eet honey-li#e substance that certain flo%ers, such as honeysuc#le,
 produce in the summer Another %ord for this li/uid is nectar, #no%n as the food of the gods
<ith his %ords, the poet, %hen he achie&es his dream, can combine the chasm and the gardens,
thus tasting 'aradise