"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island." - Walt Disney

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Xanadu

Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote about a fictional land named Xanadu in his poem Kubla Khan. I really like the feel of these lines when I read them. How about you?

 

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 here 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. (lines 1-11)
 
 

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great words for a hard letter to write about.

Yvonne.

Sheena-kay Graham said...

Nice poem.

Laeli said...

I now have the song Xanadu stuck in my head, but I like this poem much better. Lines 10-11 got me good:)

Rob-bear said...

Tea and poetry
make a lovely start
to a bright, warm
Saturday.

Thanks Sylvia.

Blessings and Bear hugs!
Bears Noting
Life in the Urban Forest (That's my poetry blog)

Sylvia Ney said...

Laeli - Sorry! I've never seen the movie or heard the song before. I looked it up on youtube and now I have it stuck in mine as well ;-)

saniya said...

I always love to read some great quality poetry. Thanks for sharing this!

Sania at Embracing Dawn

Debby@My Shasta Home said...

Wow that was good. I'm impressed!

Poke The Rock said...

that was so nice, summery feeling, nice and peaceful.

Susan Kane said...

I echo all the sentiments above!

Nancy Jardine Author said...

Xanadu was one of the 'classics' in my English classes at around 12yrs old. It's a long time since I thought about it or read it. :-) Nancy at Welcome to she said, he said

Tex said...

Ha! This is so cool, Sylvia - I've been taking advantage of the weekend to catch up on my blog-reading and see what everybody's pulled out of their hat for "X".

But I never thought I'd see STC's lovely fantasyland popping up on my feed! (I love this poem, and I can't think of it without the infamous "Person from Porlock" popping to mind. Every writer knows that pain!)

Unknown said...

Love Coleridge, one of the few writers from school I remember fondly.
#atozchallenge
maggie at expat brazil

Kathleen Jennette said...

Great writings. Takes me away.
KaTy Did at: Life's Ride As I See It

Unknown said...

I loved the movie Xanadu back in the day. The poem is fantastic. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Unknown said...

As you said... I liked the feel of these words. Serene!

Thanks for visiting my space :)

Choki Gyeltshen said...

Followed your blog too. Nice Blog you got here.

Unknown said...

Thanks for visiting my blog, Sylvia. Thought I'd drop into yours.

Lovely poem. Now I see where they got the inspiration for the song which is now stuck in my head.

I look forward to reading more of your posts.

Cattitude and Gratitude

Mere Joyce said...

I instantly thought of the movie, too, and now I'll probably be singing the song all day!

I've read this poem many times, but it's been awhile, and I completely forgot it has Xanadu in it! Thanks for the reminder, =)

Bethie said...

That was my X word too! The poem and the Rush song. No ONJ at my site!

Rebecca M. Douglass said...

I've always loved that poem. I was a huge fan of the Romantic Poets in college.

LivinOurDash said...

Great poem!