Kubla Khan Or A Vision In A Dream: A Fragment (Poem By Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

A visionary poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, supposedly recounting an opium-induced dream interrupted by the famed "person from Porlock". The piece moves seamlessly between contemplation of nature's majesty and our relation to it, the transporting power of music, and the consequences of transcendent encounters.

Composed in 1797, it wasn't published until 1816, perhaps due to its unusual content and structure.

Transcript

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure-domed decree,

Where Alf 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 seeden cover,

A savage place as holy and enchanted,

As ere 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 amid these dancing rocks,

At once and ever,

It flung up momently the sacred river,

Five miles meandering with amazing 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 amid this tumult Kubler 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,

With such a deep delight would 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.

Reviews

🙏🏾 2026. 💕
Not since university….smile.

Beautifully spoken. Namaste.

My favourite poem! Thank you for sharing 😊