Poetry Explication

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Poetry Explication

• By Ally Lyall and Maddi Hallmark

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Kubla Khan

• Author Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• Written 1798
• Poem Source http//poetry.eserver.org/kubla-khan.
  html

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Samuel Taylor Coleridge

• Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born in Ottery St.
  Mary on October 21, 1772. He was the youngest of
  10 children. After joining the Army, he met and
  married Sara Fricker in October of 1795 and they
  had three children. As he grew older, he rapidly
  worked himself into debt due to his life-long
  addictions to opium, alcohol, and women and this
  eventually led to divorce with his wife.
• Source http//incompetech.com/authors/coleridge/

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Kubla Khan

• In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately
  pleasure-dome decree Where Alph, the sacred
  river, ran Through caverns measureless to man
  Down to a sunless sea.So twice five miles of
  fertile groundWith walls and towers were girdled
  roundAnd here were gardens bright with sinuous
  rillsWhere blossomed many an incense-bearing
  treeAnd here were forests ancient as the
  hills,Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.But oh!
  that deep romantic chasm which slantedDown the
  green hill athwart a cedarn cover!A savage
  place! as holy and enchantedAs e'er beneath a
  waning moon was hauntedBy woman wailing for her
  demon-lover!
• And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil
  seething,As if this earth in fast thick pants
  were breathing,A mighty fountain momently was
  forcedAmid whose swift half-intermitted
  burstHuge fragments vaulted like rebounding
  hail,Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's
  flailAnd 'mid these dancing rocks at once and
  everIt flung up momently the sacred river.Five
  miles meandering with a mazy motionThrough wood
  and dale the sacred river ran,Then reached the
  caverns measureless to man,

• And sank in tumult to a lifeless oceanAnd 'mid
  this tumult Kubla heard from farAncestral voices
  prophesying war!
• The shadow of the dome of pleasure Floated
  midway on the wavesWhere 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! 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. Could I revive within me Her
  symphony and song,To such a deep delight 't
  would win meThat with music loud and long,I
  would build that dome in air,That sunny dome!
  those caves of ice!And all who heard should see
  them there,And all should cry, Beware!
  Beware!His flashing eyes, his floating
  hair!Weave a circle round him thrice,And close
  your eyes with holy dread,For he on honey-dew
  hath fed,And drunk the milk of Paradise.

Source http//poetry.eserver.org/kubla-khan.html
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Kubla Khan Paraphrased

• Listening to the river I am reminded of war. The
  view of the entire palace and landscape is a
  beautiful sight. The cold caves contrast with the
  warm-filled palace. I once had a vision of a girl
  playing a dulcimer and singing about a place
  called Mount Abora. If I could bring to life, my
  vision, I myself could create amazing things. My
  vision becomes so real, that people should
  beware. Its power is strong enough to make me a
  god of all the land.

• I, Kubla Khan live in Xanadu and had a fancy and
  beautiful palace built. The river, Alph, flows
  through my land, all the way down to the sea.
  Walls surrounded the palace and bright gardens
  and blooming trees fill the land with greenery.
  But the strong river keeps beckoning me back,
  like a woman calling for her love. This swift and
  fast river continuously rushes down the
  mountainside, bouncing off rocks, and reminds me
  of hail. Alph slows down as it meanders through
  the forests, and once it reaches the cliff, it
  falls into the ocean.

Source http//www.shmoop.com/kubla-khan/summary.h
tml
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Diction

• Formal Language, Abstract, Vivid, No Slang
• Vivid expressions are created in the poem through
  semantics, because the author uses very
  descriptive words
• Words such as wailing, seething, turmoil,
  delight, pleasure, and so on are examples of
  words that have good or bad connotation
• When the author refers to things such as a
  palace, a damsel, and a dulcimer, it shows that
  the poem is set in the past

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Tone and Mood

• At the beginning, the poem conveys a happy and
  serene scene.
• And here were gardens bright with sinuous rills.
  Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree.
• In the middle of the poem, when Kubla Khan is
  thinking about the caverns and war, his thoughts
  become dark and ominous
• By woman wailing for her demon-lover! And from
  this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething
• The poem ends with a powerful and mighty tone as
  the author realizes the power he could obtain.
• Beware! Beware! His flashing eyes, his floating
  hair!

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Tone and Mood (cont.)

• Overall this poem has a pretty serious mood, but
  the tone changes frequently due to Khans
  continuous thoughts.
• This poem deals with irony when compared to the
  authors life
• In the poem Kubla Khan has a lot of power and
  lives in a paradise
• In Coleridges life, he dealt with debt,
  addictions, and failure which left him lonely and
  poor
• The poem took the reader from peacefulness, to
  the reality of lifes struggles, and ended with a
  empowering feeling

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Rhetorical Situation

• The speaker is acting as a narrator to describe
  Kubla Khans life and analyze his thoughts on
  certain situations
• As the reader, we are overhearing the poem being
  narrated like its a story being told to us

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Figurative Language

• Similes
• Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail.
• Personification
• Alph, the sacred river, ran through caverns
  dancing rocks the shadow of the dome of pleasure
  floated midway on the waves
• Idiom
• lifeless ocean
• Hyperbole
• caverns measureless to man

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Imagery

• Kubla Khan creates the mental picture of a palace
  that is safe, sunny, and warm. It is built in a
  beautiful green and vibrant area, with raging
  oceans, rivers, and cliffs. This poem is nosey,
  active and even dangerous. The green gardens make
  you feel peaceful where the ocean makes you feel
  gloomy. It is a mysterious dead end. The cliffs
  give you the image of something freighting. This
  poem is full of power. It is something different.
  It is a vision in a dream.
• Symbolism The Xanadu palace is really taken from
  the Mongol and Chinese emperor Kublai Khan of the
  Yuan Dynasty

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Sound

• The poem Kubla Khan does not really have a rhyme
  scheme.
• Repetition refers to the caverns and also to the
  river, Alph, multiple times throughout the poem
• Alliteration Kubla Khan, dome decree, river ran,
  measureless to man, and sunless sea
• Assonance In Xanadu did Kubla Khan, So twice
  five miles of fertile ground

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Poem Structure

• This poem is considered a fragment
• its incomplete nature represents aspects of the
  creative process through its form
• Stanzas
• Has one long continuous stanza
• Free Verse
• The poem has no formal structure
• Rhyme pattern
• No specific pattern, but many of the words at the
  ends of lines rhyme with each other

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Conclusion

• Overall we think Coleridge was able to convey
  different moods throughout the poem due to his
  diction, figurative language, and imagery.
• The strongest elements were his use of figurative
  language and imagery to describe the land of
  Xandu.
• He referenced the river, Alph, multiple times,
  but he always kept it interesting
• His rhyme scheme was subtle and just added to the
  flow of the poem

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Personal Reactions

• This poem was pretty easy to read because it was
  structured like a story, but it changed subject
  often because it is almost set up the way a
  person thinks in their mind and goes through a
  variety thoughts
• At the end the poem gives you a feeling of hope
  and wonder as Kubla Khan seeks power
• The poem is from the 1700s, and is set in an even
  more ancient time, so it is difficult to relate
  to at some points
• Overall it was entertaining to read, and it left
  us with scenes of beautiful greenery and the
  palace in our head from Coleridges use of imagery