My Favorite Poems (Volume 7): Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Day 152 (Written Saturday May 12) ~ Most of you will probably think this is pretty weird I know, but this is one of those poems that has some truly “poetic” lines that I can’t resist. That, and the fact that it mentions two things that I love. When I was a little boy I had the biggest crush on Olivia Newton John. I thought she was so pretty and I loved to hear her sing. The Australian accent put her over the top as far as I was concerned. I liked her in Grease but I fell in love with her in Xanadu. If you don’t remember the movie Xanadu it’s no surprise. It was a bomb and a pretty terrible movie. It was a musical comedy focusing on a Greek muse who descends from Mount Olympus to Venice Beach, California via a painting on a wall. And did I mention there is roller skating? Lots of roller skating. Nevertheless, my five year old brain was entranced by the combination of a roller skating, painted muse coming to life via Olivia Newton John and was completely won over by that haunting theme song “Xanadu” (it also made popular the songs “Magic” and “Suddenly”). The second part of this appeal has to do with what is considered by many to be the greatest movie ever made. I first saw this movie when I was in college (the second time) in Dr. Brant Harwells English Literature class. We did a few weeks on classic movies and he showed us Orson Wells “Citizen Cane.” I loved the movie and was fascinated by the main characters home called Xanadu. Xanadu is a metaphor for splendor and opulence. Those two influences primed me to love this poem. I’ll spare you all the lines from this 214 year old poem, but here are a few of my favorites. 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. 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’t would win me That with music loud and long, I would build that dome in air, That sunny dome! those caverns 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.