"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 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!