NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English (Kaleidoscope) Poetry 4 Kubla Khan

NCERT
SOLUTIONS
CLASS - 12th

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Book : Kaliedoscope - Poetry Ncert Solutions | Chapter - 4 English - Poetry

Class : 12th

Subject : English

Chapter : 4

Chapter Name : Kubla Khan

Q1 Find out where the river Alph is.

Answer. The river Alph, located in an ice-free region at the west of the Koettliz Glacier, initiates
from Trough Lake and flows through Walcott Lake, Howchin Lake, and the Alph Lake.

Q2 Does the poem have a real geographical location? How does the poet mix up the real and
the imaginary to give a sense of the surreal?

Answer. Coleridge’s Kubla Khan, is about the grandson of Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan.
Genghis Khan took initiative to build a summer palace located in Xandu, which is in Mongolia. In
Kubla Khan, Coleridge talks about how Kubla wanted to build a dome that would be unaffected
by the natural forces. He opposed to the natural forces of decay and degeneration and wanted
to create a private world bereft of metamorphosis. Whereas, the poet wants to build a dome in
the air out of the natural forces- the imaginative cocoon that would shell the poetic and the
natural truth. The poet doesn’t want to go against the organic world. He wants to build
something out of the natural forces that would blend with the natural motions of the world.

Q3 a) Pick out Contrasting images that are juxtaposed throughout the poem

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Book : Kaliedoscope - Poetry Ncert Solutions | Chapter - 4 English - Poetry

Answer. The poem is filled with contradictory images. Noisy and active river Alph is contrasted
with calm and peaceful garden. The gloomy and sad ocean is in contrast to the warm bright
forest. The caves are freezing cold while domes are warm. The image of the wailing woman is
contrasted with her lover whom Coleridge considers him as a demon.

Q3 b) Images that strike the eye and images strike the ear, both positive and negative.

Answer. In Kubla Khan, we have images that strike the eyes. They are-

Firstly the name “Kubla Khan” imposes the trance-like effect on the reader that he has been
looking for. The juxtaposition of waning and wailing woman imparts the effect of wailing sound.
The line “Five miles meandering with a mazy motion”, there is alliteration in “m” sound and
creates motion. “As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing”, in this use of assonance
provides a sense of breathing.

Q3 c) The words used to describe the movement of water.

Answer. Coleridge uses various words to show various emotions and sounds. The poet
attempts to visualize the river rushing down the hillside “momently” like a “fountain”: “A mighty
fountain momently was forced.” The poet wants the reader to visualize to things as they are
written.

Q4 What is the discordant note heard in the end of the third stanza?

Answer. In the third stanza, the speaker calls up Xandu with a strange voice. Speaker believes
this image to be real and starts shouting “beware, beware” the creature is described as
possessing flashy eyes and floating hair. The description of the animal tells something sinister is
going to happen soon. Many critics believe that the vision was the effect of opium intake. The

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Book : Kaliedoscope - Poetry Ncert Solutions | Chapter - 4 English - Poetry

final vision of Kubla was mysterious and strange and ghostly. The third stanza creates an
ambiguous and strange kind of atmosphere.

Q5 Which are the lines that refer to magical elements?

Answer. The lines that refer to magical elements are-

“Through caverns measureless to man/ Down to a sunless sea.” Again the lines, “Where
blossomed many an incense-bearing tree” create an intense magical world. These lines
transform normal world into enchantment. “But oh! That deep romantic chasm which/ slanted”
depicts the image of the world is some sort of trance and under the spell. The dome is
described in the most beautiful way “It was a miracle of rare device,/ A sunny pleasure-dome
with caves of ice.”

Q6 What is poetic ecstasy likened to?

Answer. It is about turning alive the passion by giving voice to emotions. The emotions are so
strong and engulfing that it shakes you from within.

Q7 The poem is fragment. What do you think has made it a lasting literary piece?

Answer. According to critics in the poem, darkness and corruption coexist with innocence and
simplicity. The ideas are taken from different religions and they effectively leave an impact on
readers. The Kubla Khan is from Islamic background but his palace Xandu has a cross of Jesus

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Book : Kaliedoscope - Poetry Ncert Solutions | Chapter - 4 English - Poetry

Christ on it. The idea encompassed in the poem is of the universal message, it is not limited to
one religion or idea.

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