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by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834)

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
Language: English 
Our translations:  FRI
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.

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.

F. Goossen sets stanzas 1, 4

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834), "Kubla Khan", appears in Christabel: Kubla Khan, A Vision; The Pains of Sleep, first published 1816 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "Kubla Khan", published 1912 [ TTBBBB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875 - 1912), "Kubla Khan", published 1905 [ alto, SATB chorus with divisi, and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Cecil Forsyth (1870 - 1941), "Kubla Khan", published 1913 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Frederic Goossen (b. 1927), "Kubla Khan", 1974, stanzas 1,4 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Philip Legge (b. 1972), "Kubla Khan", op. 1 (2004), published 2006 [ SATB chorus, 2 flutes, and harp (or piano) ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Philippe Manoury (b. 1952), "Xanadu", 1990, first performed 1990 [ soprano and clarinet ], Paris, Amphion [sung text not yet checked]
  • by George Frederick McKay (1899 - 1970), "Kubla Khan", published 1979 [ soprano, flute, violin, violoncello, contrabass, piano, and 2 percussion ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Bernard James Naylor (1907 - 1986), "Kubla Khan or A Vision in a Dream", published 1963 [ 2 sopranos, SSAA chorus, and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Horace James Perkins (b. 1901), "Kubla Khan", 1939, rev. 1950 [ voice and piano ], cantata for bass-baritone, small and large SATB choruses, instruments [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Humphrey Procter-Gregg (1895 - 1980), "Kubla Khan" [ chorus and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Humphrey Searle (1915 - 1982), "Kubla Khan", 1974 [ tenor, SATB chorus, and orchestra ], cantata [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Paul Turok (b. 1929), "Kubla Khan", 1956, published 1979 [ SSAA chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by John Veale (b. 1922), "Kubla Khan", published 1959 [ baritone, SSAATTBB chorus, and piano or orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • FRI Frisian (Geart van der Meer) , "Koeblai Khan - Of in dreamfizioen. In fragmint", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-11-30
Line count: 54
Word count: 349

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