Meter .......The poem opens with four lines in iambic iambic tetrameter.The first line demonstrates the pattern. 1234 In XAN....a DU.|..did KUB....la KHAN The poem then shifts to lines of varying length,usually with iambic feet.For example,line 10 is in iambic pentameter. .1.23.4. 5 And HERE....were FOR...ests AN....cient AS....the HILLS Line 43 is in iambic trimeter. 123 Her SYM..J..phon Y....and SONG Inversion .......Like other poets,Coleridge frequently uses inversion to fashion rhymes and achieve musicality.The following lines are examples: In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree (lines 1-2) Normal prose wording:Kubla Khan decreed a stately pleasure dome in Xanadu. A damsel with a dulcimer In a vision once I saw:(lines 37-38) Normal prose wording:In a vision,I once saw a damsel with a dulcimer. Figures of Speech ......Following are examples of figures of speech in the poem.For definitions of figures of speech,see Literary Terms. Alliteration In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea Where was heard the mingled measure From the fountain and the caves.(lines 33-34) And all who heard should see them there (line 48) For he on honey-dew hath fed (line 53 Anaphora And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean: And'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far And all who heard should see them there, And all should cry,Beware!Beware!Meter .......The poem opens with four lines in iambic iambic tetrameter. The first line demonstrates the pattern. ...1..............2...............3............4 In XAN..|..a DU.|..did KUB..|..la KHAN The poem then shifts to lines of varying length, usually with iambic feet. For example, line 10 is in iambic pentameter. .......1..................2................3...............4................5 And HERE..|..were FOR..|..ests AN..|..cient AS..|..the HILLS Line 43 is in iambic trimeter. ......1..............2...............3 Her SYM..|..phon Y..|..and SONG Inversion .......Like other poets, Coleridge frequently uses inversion to fashion rhymes and achieve musicality. The following lines are examples: In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree (lines 1-2) Normal prose wording: Kubla Khan decreed a stately pleasure dome in Xanadu. A damsel with a dulcimer In a vision once I saw: (lines 37-38) Normal prose wording: In a vision, I once saw a damsel with a dulcimer. Figures of Speech .......Following are examples of figures of speech in the poem. For definitions of figures of speech, see Literary Terms. Alliteration In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea Where was heard the mingled measure From the fountain and the caves. (lines 33-34) And all who heard should see them there (line 48) For he on honey-dew hath fed (line 53 Anaphora And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean: And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far And all who heard should see them there, And all should cry, Beware! Beware!