kubla khan
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The first stanza begins by introducing the character Kulba Khan and also the place Xanadu. Kubla Khan is the grandson of Genghis Khan, who built a place called Xanadu. The line 'stately pleasure dome decree' means he built a fancy and beautiful palace. The River Alph is introduced to us, this could imply beginnings or something new as 'Alpha' in Greek is a symbol of beginnings. The 'sunless sea' gives the impression that although the poem has some historic facts and figures, the landscape is imaginary as seas can’t really be 'sunless'. The word 'sunless' also gives the impression that the sea is not bright and cheery, but it’s dark and spooky. In contrast to this things become a lot more cheerful, the garden around this place and the little stream is described to us. These gardens are the opposite to the caverns; while the cavern was 'measureless', the garden is 'girdled round'. This implies it is surrounded by walls and towers. This creates a sense of security as, unlike the caverns, this place is secure with walls. Further sense of security is suggested by the line, ‘enfolding sunny spots of greenery', which gives the image of the forest wrapping around the sunny spots and keeping it safe. The garden also looks and smells good, 'incense- bearing' appeals to our sense of smell.
In the second stanza we are pulled into the scary and wild natural world. The river is violent and uncontrollable unlike the poky rills in the first stanza. The intense images of a 'demon woman', perhaps, her ghost haunting this place, gives us a glimpse of another story. The woman is being used to emphasise the point that if a woman was sad and lonely with a terrible fate, she would go to a place like this. Coleridge describes the river as fountain emphasising that it flows. Although this is an obvious point, I think he simply wants to remind us that the river is continuous and not something in the moment. He focuses on the wild and violent side of the river showing the tremendous power of nature. They water becomes the sound of 'fast thick plants’ almost as if we can hear and feel the force of the river. This vivid imagery of the river is to make us feel the wild force of nature. After the rushing river crashing on rocks and flowing through caverns, the river now seems calmer. In the next few lines of this stanza we are taken back to the gloomy side of the river. The line 'caverns measureless to man' from the first stanza is repeated, and, 'sunless sea' is repeated but this time it’s phrased as 'lifeless ocean'. Coleridge had taken us back to the gloomy and spooky imagery described to use at the start of the poem. In the last two lines of the stanza the character, Kulba, is introduced again to us. The line 'ancestral voices prospering war' suggests that he spends time thinking about war; this pulls us away from the image of river.
In stanza three the first line 'the shadow of the dome of pleasure creates the image of the 'dome of pleasure' casting a shadow on the ocean. All elements are introduced to us in the next four line; the waves, domes, caves and fountain. Since everything is all mixed up the river makes different sounds. There is a contrast between the caverns and the dome giving a sense of a contrast between natural and man-made. 'Sunny' and 'ice' show two opposite clashing together but making and odd harmony. A vision of a girl is then described to us, who, sang about a place called Mount Abora. This place could be a reference to Ethiopia. However, a lot is not revealed about this mystery woman, perhaps, because it is a vision of the narrator and he does not wish to share his visions with us. The narrator wants to revive the music he heard in his visions to bring himself back to life. He imagines that this music would bring back the spirit of Xanadu. He imagines the vision to become so real that it starts to scare people and make them cry 'beware'. He describes a creature with flashing eyes and floating hair. To get rid of this creature a ritual has to be performed by weaving a circle around the creature three times. The last two line of the poem suggest that the creature has turned into something so powerful that he has taken paradise away, 'dunk the milk of paradise'.
How does the writer engage with the idea of power of imagination and nature?
During the course of the poem the violent and calm sides of the river are described to us, almost personifying the river as having different moods. Coleridge uses the power of imagination to engage with the nature and man-made contrasts such as the caverns and the domes. In the poem Coleridge uses the idea of imagination to take us into the visions this person has. The first vision is of a 'demon woman' who is perhaps lost and lonely. The last vision describes a deadly creature taking away paradise. As the poem progresses he finds it difficult to differentiate if the visions are a dream or reality.
In the second stanza we are pulled into the scary and wild natural world. The river is violent and uncontrollable unlike the poky rills in the first stanza. The intense images of a 'demon woman', perhaps, her ghost haunting this place, gives us a glimpse of another story. The woman is being used to emphasise the point that if a woman was sad and lonely with a terrible fate, she would go to a place like this. Coleridge describes the river as fountain emphasising that it flows. Although this is an obvious point, I think he simply wants to remind us that the river is continuous and not something in the moment. He focuses on the wild and violent side of the river showing the tremendous power of nature. They water becomes the sound of 'fast thick plants’ almost as if we can hear and feel the force of the river. This vivid imagery of the river is to make us feel the wild force of nature. After the rushing river crashing on rocks and flowing through caverns, the river now seems calmer. In the next few lines of this stanza we are taken back to the gloomy side of the river. The line 'caverns measureless to man' from the first stanza is repeated, and, 'sunless sea' is repeated but this time it’s phrased as 'lifeless ocean'. Coleridge had taken us back to the gloomy and spooky imagery described to use at the start of the poem. In the last two lines of the stanza the character, Kulba, is introduced again to us. The line 'ancestral voices prospering war' suggests that he spends time thinking about war; this pulls us away from the image of river.
In stanza three the first line 'the shadow of the dome of pleasure creates the image of the 'dome of pleasure' casting a shadow on the ocean. All elements are introduced to us in the next four line; the waves, domes, caves and fountain. Since everything is all mixed up the river makes different sounds. There is a contrast between the caverns and the dome giving a sense of a contrast between natural and man-made. 'Sunny' and 'ice' show two opposite clashing together but making and odd harmony. A vision of a girl is then described to us, who, sang about a place called Mount Abora. This place could be a reference to Ethiopia. However, a lot is not revealed about this mystery woman, perhaps, because it is a vision of the narrator and he does not wish to share his visions with us. The narrator wants to revive the music he heard in his visions to bring himself back to life. He imagines that this music would bring back the spirit of Xanadu. He imagines the vision to become so real that it starts to scare people and make them cry 'beware'. He describes a creature with flashing eyes and floating hair. To get rid of this creature a ritual has to be performed by weaving a circle around the creature three times. The last two line of the poem suggest that the creature has turned into something so powerful that he has taken paradise away, 'dunk the milk of paradise'.
How does the writer engage with the idea of power of imagination and nature?
During the course of the poem the violent and calm sides of the river are described to us, almost personifying the river as having different moods. Coleridge uses the power of imagination to engage with the nature and man-made contrasts such as the caverns and the domes. In the poem Coleridge uses the idea of imagination to take us into the visions this person has. The first vision is of a 'demon woman' who is perhaps lost and lonely. The last vision describes a deadly creature taking away paradise. As the poem progresses he finds it difficult to differentiate if the visions are a dream or reality.