Kubla Khan summary, critical notes, and short notes for the BA English Semester IV Students of BBMKU University. BA English Exam Preparation on JPathshala online platform.
Kubla Khan Summary
Kubla Khan, the poem is an imagination of Samuel Tylor Coleridge. To take a deep sleep, he used opium. Before going to bed, he read the story about Kubla Khan. So, he dreamt about Kubla Khan and the dream he explained in this poem. Kubla Khan, Or, A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment was completed in 1797 but published in 1816. In this poetry, Everything is imagination except the name emperor.
S. T. Coleridge imagines Kubla Khan in the city of Xanadu. In the first stanza, He creates an imaginary place, explaining from the top of his magnificent palace dome. A beautiful river, Alph, flows through the enormous chambers and meets with the sea. The dome has stunning gardens with a streamlet and scented plants and they are protected by tall towers and walls. The ancient forests were covered in rich trees with sunlight shining on them.
In addition, the second stanza was an eye-catcher imagination that is the portrait of heaven. A rift spread through the sloping hill with green flora, and mosses covering it. He similitudes it to a woman’s lament in the memory of the wild and natural love for her demonic lover. This chasm regularly vibrates as if the earth were furiously breathing through it.
In addition, a holy river flows in an awry through the woods and valley. Kubla Khan puts together human and divine creativity. Kubla Khan hears the voices of his ancestors, who forecast the imminent war. The poem also portrays the floating shadow of the dome in the air and on the water.
Due to the sunny location and the coexistence of an ice cave, the poet portrays it as a miracle. He describes a dream in the final stanza. He notices a damsel (girl) in his dream who is playing the dulcimer (musical instrument). She was playing her musical instrument and singing Mount Abora. The scene fascinated the poet. He declares that it was rare and he cannot reconstruct her symphony and sound in him.
This is unusual because he regards her as superior, which was unusual at that time. He aspires to create a pleasure dome with the same symphony as the girl. By building the dome and having the symphony, he would reach heaven. He tried to show his imagination talent with the pleasureful description of a place like heaven. The poet has introduced the readers to his ability to think deeply. As a result, they’ll be able to visualize things as vividly as he does. Thus, it will become splendid and personable to the audience.
Through its vivid depiction, the Kubla Khan summary leads us through the wonderful region of Xanadu. It studies the theme of the relationship between man and nature. It is a beautiful romantic poetry that emphasizes humans and natural elements.