Class 12 English (Elective) Poem 4 – Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Important Question Answers from Kaleidoscope Book Poetry
Class 12 English (Elective) Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Question Answers – Looking for questions and answers for CBSE Class 12 English (Elective) Poem 4 – Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment? Look no further! Our comprehensive compilation of important questions will help you brush up on your subject knowledge. Practising Class 12 English question answers can significantly improve your performance in the exam. Improve your chances of scoring high marks by exploring Poem 4 – Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment now. The questions listed below are based on the latest CBSE exam pattern, wherein we have given NCERT solutions to the chapter’s extract-based questions, multiple choice questions and Extra Question Answers
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- Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment NCERT Solutions
- Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Grammar Exercise
- Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Extra Question Answers
- Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Multiple Choice Questions
- Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Extract Based Questions
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Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Textbook Questions (NCERT Solutions)
Understanding the Poem
Find out where the river Alph is.
1. Does the poem have a real geographical location? How does the poet mix the real and the imaginary to give a sense of the surreal?
Ans. The River Alph doesn’t exist in reality. It is used to symbolise the creative flow that originates from the subconscious. Similarly, Xanadu can symbolise a luxurious, exotic, or idyllic place. Apart from the imaginary location, there are references to real geographical locations. Kubla Khan founded the Mongol dynasty in China in the thirteenth century. Similarly, Abyssinian is an ancient region in the Horn of Africa, modern-day Ethiopia. Coleridge has also deployed mythical places like Mount Abora, which is a mythical mountain. Coleridge was inspired by Mount Amara, a paradise-like mythical mountain in John Milton’s Paradise Lost.
2. Pick out
(i) contrasting images that are juxtaposed throughout the poem.
(ii) images that strike the eye and images that strike the ear, both positive and negative.
(iii) the words used to describe the movement of water.
Ans.
(i) The calm image of ‘A damsel with a dulcimer’ is juxtaposed to the personified image of pleasure-dome ‘His flashing eyes, his floating hair!’
The dark image of ‘the deep romantic chasm’ is juxtaposed to the greenery of ‘cedarn cover’.
Sunny pleasure dome is juxtaposed to the caves of ice.
Alph, the sacred river, is juxtaposed to the dark image of caves
Peaceful Gardens are juxtaposed to the dark caves
Woman wailing in love is juxtaposed to the dark image of a demon lover.
(ii) Images that strike ears, the image of ‘wailing woman’.
The motion sound through the alliteration ‘m’ in the lines ‘miles meandering with a mazy motion’.
The halting breathing through ‘the earth in fast thick pants were breathing’.
‘chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething’
Images that strike the eyes
The image of ‘waning moon’.
The image of ‘deep romantic chasm which slanted’.
The image of ‘A mighty fountain momently was forced’.
The image of ‘chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail’.
(iii) Ocean- lifeless ocean
River sank in tumult, the sacred river, ran
Through
Fountain- mighty fountain, swift half-intermitted burst
3. What is the discordant note heard at the end of the third stanza? Can we relate this to the grandeur and turmoil that are a part of an emperor’s life?
Ans. The discordant note is the pleasure dome in the sky. The sound of pleasure dome is the poetic vision that could be pleasant and turbulent at the same time. The supernatural elements like ‘flashing eyes’ and ‘floating hair’ describe the pleasure dome that would leave the readers in awe and fear. The wild conditions would frighten them to the extent that they would guard themselves. The readers would confine him within a magical circle three times. To protect themselves, the reader would close their eyes with fear or awe in the presence of God. The emperor could relate to the same grandeur when revered by the people of his dynasty. He could feel the same turmoil when he went to war.
4. Which are the lines that refer to magical elements?
Ans. The Magical elements in poetry refer to the inclusion of fantastical or supernatural aspects within a seemingly ordinary setting, which often blends mythical creatures, supernatural abilities and dreamlike imagery into the narrative, creating a heightened reality that blurs the lines between the real and the imagined. The following lines refer to the magical elements in ‘Kubla Khan’:
- 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 honeydew hath fed,/And drunk the milk of Paradise
- Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree
- But oh! That deep romantic chasm which/ slanted!/Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!/A savage place! as holy and enchanted/As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted/By woman wailing for her demon-lover!
- And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,/As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
- And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far/Ancestral voices prophesying war!
- It was a miracle of a rare device, / A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!
5. What is poetic ecstasy likened to?
Ans. Poetic ecstasy is a heightened state of consciousness or an intensely pleasant experience expressed through poetry. The speaker in the poem ‘Kubla Khan’ has reached poetic ecstasy, in the ending, as he is described with the supernatural elements. In the end, the speaker is described as a powerful supernatural figure with an intense gaze and wild hair, suggesting a mystical or dangerous presence that should be cautiously approached by creating a protective circle around him, possibly to ward off his otherworldly power. The reference to ‘flashing eyes’ and ‘floating hair’ describes the otherworldly quality of this figure. The act of weaving a circle around him thrice is a ritualistic attempt to protect oneself from this powerful being. This supernatural figure is a representation of the speaker’s creative power, which is both awe-inspiring and overpowering.
6. The poem is a fragment. What do you think has made it a lasting literary piece?
Ans. The poem ‘Kubla Khan’ is a lasting literary piece written in fragments. It’s rich imagery, evocative language, juxtaposition, exploration of the creative process through inspiration, subconscious, and nature. The supernatural elements too played a crucial role in making the poem leave a lasting impact on readers.
Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Grammar Exercises
Language Study
Dulcimer is a string instrument struck with two light hammers, used both in China and Europe in different forms.
TASK
Write short descriptions of five other rare musical instruments used by folk cultures.
Ans.
- Sindhi Sarangi: A rare string instrument from Rajasthan.
- Ravanahatha: a baroque instrument linked to the mythical king Ravana.
- Alghoza: a pair of woodwind instruments played in Punjab and Rajasthan.
- Udukai: an hour-shaped drum from India.
- Vessel Flute: resembles a whistle, filled with water before playing.
Try this Out
The poem is a product of subconscious fusion of dream images and ideas from Coleridge’s wide reading. Which of the details in the poem do you think are factual, and which imaginary? Surf the internet to get interesting details.
Ans. The River Alph doesn’t exist in reality. It is used to symbolise the creative flow that originates from the subconscious. Similarly, Xanadu can symbolise a luxurious, exotic, or idyllic place. Apart from the imaginary location, there are references to real geographical locations. Kubla Khan founded the Mongol dynasty in China in the thirteenth century. Similarly, Abyssinian is an ancient region in the Horn of Africa, modern-day Ethiopia. Coleridge has also deployed mythical places like Mount Abora, a mythical mountain. Coleridge was inspired by Mount Amara, a paradise-like mythical mountain in John Milton’s Paradise Lost. The honeydew and the milk of paradise are similar to ambrosia and the nectar of the gods in Greek mythology.
CBSE Class 12 English (Elective) Poem 4- Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Extra Question and Answers
Answer the following questions.
Q1. Where is the ‘sunny dome’ located?
Ans. In Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem ‘Kubla Khan’, the sunny dome, also called a stately pleasure-dome, is located in the fictional place called Xanadu. It is built by Kubla Khan on the banks of the river Alph, which flows through caverns and down to a sunless sea.
Q2. What does the poet want to achieve through the damsel symphony?
Ans. The speaker considers the damsel as his muse and wants to use her symphony as an inspiration to build the pleasure dome in the sky.
Q3. What does Coleridge want to emphasise through the oxymoron ‘sunless sea’ and ‘lifeless ocean’?
Ans. The ‘sunless sea’ and ‘lifeless ocean’ symbolise the contrast between the earthly and sacred realms, which emphasises the Romantic theme of the inadequacy of mortal life and the pursuit of immortality through creativity.
Q4. What do the wall and the towers symbolise?
Ans. The walls and towers symbolise the boundaries and protective barriers to protect artistic imagination against the outside world.
Q5. How can the poem Kubla Khan by Coleridge be read as an illustration of the power of imagination? (SQPs)
Ans. In Coleridge’s Kubla Khan, imagination plays a crucial role and represents the Romantic ideals with its strong images and symbols. The poem highlights how powerful imagination can be, taking readers into a strange and magical world beyond what is real. It shows imagination as a source of beauty and inspiration but also suggests that it can have darker and more dangerous sides. Therefore, ‘Kubla Khan’ serves as both a celebration of imagination’s endless possibilities and a warning about its potential risks.
Class 12 Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Multiple Choice Questions
Q1. Where did Kubla build the dome?
A. Mount Amara
B. Xanadu
C. Mount Abora
D. Abyssinian
Ans. B. Xanadu
Q2. What is the name of the sacred river flowing through the dome?
A. Thames
B. Ganges
C. Styx
D. Alph
Ans. D. Alph
Q3. What instrument did the Abyssinian maid play?
A. Lyre
B. Piano
C. Dulcimer
D. Flute
Ans. C. Dulcimer
Q4. Which mountain is the Abyssinian maid singing about?
A. Mount Ida
B. Mount Othrys
C. Mount Olympus
D. Mount Abora
Ans. D. Mount Abora
Q5. What inspired the speaker’s dream vision?
A. Ancestors voices
B. River Alph
C. Abyssinian maid song
D. Pleasure Dome
Ans. C. Abyssinian maid song
Q6. Who is the author of Kubla Khan?
A. William Wordsworth
B. Samuel Daniel
C. Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai
D. Samuel Coleridge
Ans. D. Samuel Coleridge
Q7. Which kingdom does Kubla Khan belong to?
A. Mongol dynasty in China
B. Ming dynasty in China
C. Xin dynasty in China
D. Tang dynasty in China
Ans. A. Mongol dynasty in China
Q8. Who prophesied about the war to Kubla Khan?
A. Woman crying for demon lover
B. Ancestors’ voices in the caves
C. Sound of the Mighty Fountain
D. River Alph
Ans. B. Ancestors’ voices in the caves
Q9. What is the ‘rare device’ being referred to?
A. Woman crying for her demon lover
B. Damsel with Dulcimer
C. Pleasure Dome
D. Might fountain
Ans. C. Pleasure Dome
Q10. What is the poetic device used in the phrase ‘mingled measure’?
A. Assonance
B. Personification
C. Metaphor
D. Alliteration
Ans. D. Alliteration
Q11. What does the ‘caverns measureless to man’ mean?
A. Violent and uncontrolled subconscious
B. Rational mind
C. Poet’s vision
D. Nature
Ans. A. Violent and uncontrolled subconscious
Q12. What do the fragments of rocks represent?
A. Poet’s vision of poetry in fragments
B. Dark side of passionate love
C. Nature
D. Subconsciousness
Ans. A. Poet’s vision of poetry in fragments
Q13. What do ‘honey-dew’ and ‘milk of Paradise’ symbolise?
A. Life of luxury
B. Deep prophetic Poet’s imagination
C. Pleasure of gardens
D. Religious vision
Ans. B. Deep prophetic Poet’s imagination
Q14. Why is the woman crying?
A. River Alph
B. Ancestors’ voices of war
C. For Mount Abora
D. For her demon lover
Ans. D. For her demon lover
Q15. Who is breathing in fast, thick pants?
A. River Alph
B. Fountain
C. Earth
D. Artistic vision
Ans. C. Earth
Q16. What is the poetic device used in the line ‘earth in fast thick pants were breathing’?
A. Metaphor
B. Personification
C. Alliteration
D. Oxymoron
Ans. B. Personification
Q17. Which place is referred to as savage?
A. Fountain
B. Garden
C. Caves
D. Chasm
Ans. D. Chasm
Q18. What do the shadows of the pleasure dome represent?
A. The fleeting ideal creative vision
B. Perpetual nature
C. Supernatural elements in the poem
D. Fleeting nature
Ans. A. The fleeting ideal creative vision
Q19. What is the poetic device used in ‘sunless sea’?
A. Oxymoron
B. Alliteration
C. Personification
D. Metaphor
Ans. A. Oxymoron
Q20. What does the damsel with dulcimer symbolise?
A. Poet’s ecstasy
B. Women crying for demon lover
C. Poet’s muse
D. Greek mythological figure
Ans. C. Poet’s muse
CBSE Class 12 English (Elective) Poem 4 Kubla Khan Or A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment Extract-Based Questions
Answer the following extract-based questions.
A. 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 ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.
Q1. Which river was running down through these vast caves?
Ans. Alph, the sacred River was running down through these vast caves.
Q2. Who was Kubla Khan?
Ans. Kubla Khan was the Mongolian leader who ordered his servants to build a grand dome for enjoyment.
Q3. What was Kubla Khan’s order?
Ans. Kubla Khan, the Mongolian leader, ordered his servants to build a grand dome for enjoyment.
Q4. What is the poetic device used in the phrase ‘sunless sea’?
Ans. Alliteration is the poetic device used in the phrase ‘sunless sea’.
Q5. How was Kubla Khan’s pleasure dome built?
Ans. Kubla Khan has ordered his builders to develop a pleasure-dome on the ten miles of fertile land with surrounding walls and towers. On one side of the fertile ground, there were gardens with sunny streams, fragrant trees. On the other side of the fertile ground, there were forests as old as the hills and a plot of grassy land flourished under the warm sun.
B. 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, ’twould win me,
That 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 honeydew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
Q1. What was the damsel doing?
Ans. Coleridge, in this stanza, introduces a girl to complete the picture of Romantic atmosphere. He once saw in his dream that there was an unmarried, young girl, who came from an ancient region in the Horn of Africa, with a musical instrument, singing a song about the mythical mountain, Mount Abora.
Q2. What would Coleridge do if he revived the symphony and the song of the damsel?
Ans. Coleridge wishes to recreate the sound of her instrument and her song, which would bring him happiness as he would build Kubla Khan’s pleasure-dome, the sunny dome with caves filled with ice, in the sky. Everyone who could hear it could see it in the sky, and then cried to be careful. His inspired imagination would be awestruck with its beauty, created by his flashing eyes and floating hair.
Q3. What do the honeydew and milk of Paradise symbolise?
Ans. “Honey-dew” and “the milk of paradise” symbolise ambrosia and the nectar of the gods in Greek mythology. They symbolise a state of profound divine inspiration and access to the realm of imagination. It also represents the poet’s ability to dive into a powerful creative vision beyond the ordinary human experience, often associated with a mystical or ecstatic state.
Q4. Who saw the vision of the damsel?
Ans. Coleridge saw the vision of the damsel in his dream.
Q5. What is the poetic device used in the phrase ‘holy dread’?
Ans. Oxymoron is the poetic device used in the phrase ‘holy dread’. Coleridge has used many oxymoronic expressions to highlight the contrast between the earthly and sacred domains, emphasising the Romantic theme of the inadequacy of mortal life and the dangerous pursuit of immortality through creativity.
C. But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By 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 forced;
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail:
And ’mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
Q1. Explain the Personification used in the given context?
Ans. The fountain gushing out of the earth leads to constant violent trembling of the earth, like the man is breathing hard in the fast thick pants. The speaker has used personification to compare the forceful, rapid expulsion of water from a chasm which leads to earth’s constant violent turbulence to the heavy breaths of a man exerting himself, creating a sense of intense, almost violent energy in the natural landscape.
Q2. Why is the deep romantic chasm a savage place?
Ans. Coleridge has used violent and turbulent imagery for chasm in contrast to the bright, sunny gardens. The chasm is portrayed as a haunted, uncivilised place to symbolise the subconscious of the human mind, where powerful, dangerous thoughts and emotions reside.
Q3. What does the poet mean by the line ‘Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail’?
Ans. The fountain in intervals threw fragments of rocks in the sky and fell on the ground like hailstones in all directions from the sky, or the seed coverings flew when flogged.
Q4. What does ‘mighty fountain’ symbolise?
Ans. The ‘mighty fountain’ symbolises the intersection between the rational and irrational aspects of the human mind, represents the creative power that arises from the tension between these two forces, often manifesting as a burst of inspiration or imagination, much like a fountain erupting water into the air.
Q5. What do the ‘Huge fragments of rocks’ symbolise?
Ans. The ‘huge fragments of rocks’ symbolise the raw, untamed power of nature, which has the potential for both creation and destruction within the creative process. It also symbolises a reflection of the turbulent aspects of the human imagination.
D. Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean:
And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war!
The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves;
Where 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!
Q1. Why are caverns referred to as measureless?
Ans. The caverns are ‘measureless’ represent an image of the subconscious, which is violent, uncontrollable, and unknowable to the rational mind.
Q2. What does ‘rare device’ represent?
Ans. The rare device refers to the ‘pleasure-dome’ built by Kubla Khan, symbolising a fantastical and extraordinary creation, a place of beauty and wonder that is beyond the realm of ordinary human experience, highlighting the power of imagination and creative vision.
Q3. How does the dome embody the summer and winter aspects?
Ans. The pleasure dome is a rare sight, where summer and winter combine. The top of the dome was warm as it was sunny, while the vast caves were cooled by ice.
Q4. What does the ‘shadow of the pleasure dome’ represent?
Ans. The ‘shadow of the pleasure dome’ represents the fleeting nature of the ideal creative vision, highlighting the poet’s longing to capture and hold onto the beauty, inspiration and intensity of his dream-like imagination, which is ultimately unattainable.
Q5. What does the phrase ‘mingled measure’ mean?
Ans. ‘Mingled measure’ refers to the harmonious blend of sounds from natural elements like the fountain and the mysterious depths of caves, which signifies a combination of beauty and power. It also means the interplay between the earthly and the fantastical within the dream-like landscape of the poem.
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