SamuelTaylor Coleridge's Kubla Khan written in 1797 inspired Neil

[WY Man]

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.

 

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.

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!

 

   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 honey-dew hath fed,

And drunk the milk of Paradise.

[Blue J]

Yes- yes that's what the song was inspired by

[laughedatbytime]

1 hour ago, Blue J said:

Yes- yes that's what the song was inspired by

I never knew this!

 

The similarities are remarkable.  

[Blue J]

Just now, laughedatbytime said:

I never knew this!

 

The similarities are remarkable.  

 

In other news, the sky is blue! Or sometimes grey. 

[PurpleHayes]

Geez, all this time I thought it was based on the movie...

 

 

[TheHonestMan]

I figured Neil just really liked milk and honeydew.

[WY Man]

Maybe he did! 

[WY Man]

13 hours ago, WY Man said:

Maybe he did! 

He liked the soup too! 

[pjbear05]

Did you also know that Coleridge wrote it upon waking up from an opium dream?

[WY Man]

11 minutes ago, pjbear05 said:

Did you also know that Coleridge wrote it upon waking up from an opium dream?

Yes, I knew that! Yes, I knew that! The Google tells me so!  

[XanaD.E.W.]

This is the same cat who wrote The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner (ask Iron Maiden)

[Fridge]

19 hours ago, XanaD.E.W. said:

This is the same cat who wrote The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner (ask Iron Maiden)

Imagine my surprise at finding out the world famous 18th century English poet was actually of the feline persuasion..... 

[WY Man]

9 hours ago, Fridge said:

Imagine my surprise at finding out the world famous 18th century English poet was actually of the feline persuasion..... 

I think he travelled thru Cat Mandu on his way to Xanadu...

[Brava Doh!]

19 hours ago, WY Man said:

I think he travelled thru Cat Mandu on his way to Xanadu...

While practicing kung-fu

[WY Man]

Walking with his Shih Tzu. (The name Shih Tzu actually translates "Little Lion," another cat reference.)