"Kubla Khan" is rich in words and images that appeal to the senses. "Incense bearing trees" arouse the reader's sense of smell. The "shadow of the dome of pleasure" that "floated midway on the waves" is a visual image: we can see a rippling dome reflected on the waves. Later in the poem, we can hear the damsel with the dulcimer playing her song "loud and long." We can also hear the sound of the waterfall and see the image of a fountain of water crashing down the chasm and on the rocks below, flying up again like hail. Coleridge also shows us contrasts between light and shade, as well as images we can almost feel, such as "a sunny pleasure dome with caves of ice," which allows us to imagine both the warmth of the sun and the soothing cool of ice.  

The poem came to Coleridge in a dream and retains a dreamlike, fantastic quality. None of it is real, but the sensory imagery makes us feel as if we were there, experiencing Coleridge's dream alongside him.