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William Dalrymple | 314 pages | 18 Sep 2012 | Vintage Books | 9780307948885 | English | New York, United States Poetry By Heart | Kubla Khan

As he and his companions travel across the width of Asia—crossing through Acre, Aleppo, Tabriz, Tashkurgan, and other mysterious and sometimes In Xanadu places—they encounter dusty, forgotten roads, unexpected hospitality, and difficult challenges. Stylish, witty, and knowledgeable about everything from the dreaded order of Assassins to the hidden origins of the Three Magi, this is travel writing at its best. Rich with the sights, smells, history and feel of Asia. A classic. Dalrymple is plainly brilliant, bonkers, or both. Dalrymple recounts his saga with a fine mixture of humour and erudition, and with the exuberance of youth. It is full of life and very funny. A striking achievement. William Dalrymple is a natural writer. Best of all, he has the gift of comedy. In Xanadu marks the arrival of a new star. Clearly the stuff bestsellers are made of. When you buy a book, we donate a book. Sign In Xanadu. Halloween Books for Kids. Read An Excerpt. Sep 18, ISBN Add to Cart. Also available from:. In Xanadu from:. Paperback —. Also by William Dalrymple. See all books by William Dalrymple. Product Details. Inspired by Your Browsing History. Healing Happens With In Xanadu Help. Carol Ritberger, Ph. DK Eyewitness Cambodia and Laos. DK Eyewitness. Musashi In Xanadu Graphic Novel. Sean Michael Wilson. What is Post-Traumatic Growth? Miriam Akhtar. Aquaman by Peter David Book Two. Sowing Crisis. Rashid Khalidi. The Judge and the Historian. Carlo Ginzburg. Everything Under the Heavens. Howard W. The Book of War. Kitty Burns Florey. Island Possessed. Katherine Dunham. Helen Hoover. The Naked Voice. Chloe Goodchild. Streets of Afghanistan. In Xanadu Galpin. Return to Vietnam. Raymond Depardon and Jean-Claude Guillebaud. The Faith of the American Soldier. Stephen Mansfield. Work In Xanadu Basic Income. Revolution, Counterrevolution, and Seeds of Renewal in China. Austerity Measures. America As Empire. James Garrison. Cardinal and Gold. Steve Delsohn. Funny Cide. The Working Life. Joanne B. DK Eyewitness Croatia. Becky Murphy. Crisis on Campus. Mark C. Daniel A. Keith Haring. In Xanadu MacGregor. Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 5. Lives of the Laureates, fifth In Xanadu. Related Articles. In Xanadu for More Great Reads? Download Hi Res. LitFlash The eBooks you want at the lowest prices. Read it Forward Read it first. Pass it on! Stay in Touch Sign up. We are experiencing technical difficulties. Please try again later. Become a Member Start earning points for buying books! Kubla Khan | Poetry Out Loud

According to Coleridge's preface to Kubla Khanthe poem was composed one night In Xanadu he experienced an opium -influenced dream after reading a work describing Xanaduthe summer palace of the Mongol ruler and Emperor of China Kublai Khan. Upon waking, he set about writing lines of poetry that came to him from the dream until he was interrupted by " a person from Porlock ". The poem could not be completed according to its original — line plan as the interruption caused him to forget the lines. He left it unpublished and kept it for private readings for his friends until when, at the prompting of Lord Byronit was published. The poem is vastly different in style from other poems written by Coleridge. The first stanza of the poem describes Khan's pleasure dome built alongside a sacred river fed by a powerful fountain. The second stanza of the poem is the narrator's response to the power and effects of an Abyssinian maid's song, which enraptures him but leaves him unable to act on her inspiration unless he could hear her once again. Together, they form a comparison of creative power that does not work with nature and creative power that is harmonious with nature. The third and final stanza shifts to a first-person perspective of the speaker detailing his sighting of a woman playing a dulcimerand if he could revive her song, he could fill the pleasure dome with music. He concludes by describing a hypothetical audience's reaction to the song in the language of religious ecstasy. Some of Coleridge's contemporaries denounced the poem and questioned his story of its origin. It was not until years later that critics began to openly admire the poem. The poem is considered one of the most famous examples of Romanticism in English poetry, and is one of the most frequently anthologized poems in the English language. The poem is divided In Xanadu three irregular stanzas, which move In Xanadu between different times and places. The first stanza begins In Xanadu a fanciful description of the origin of Kublai Khan's capital Xanadu lines 1—2. Ten miles of land were surrounded with fortified walls lines 6—7encompassing lush gardens and forests lines 8— So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round: In Xanadu 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. The second stanza describes a mysterious canyon lines 12— A geyser erupted from the canyon lines 17—19throwing rubble into the air lines 20 —23 and forming the source of the sacred river Alph line The river wandered through the woods, then reached the caves and dark sea described in the first stanza lines 25— Kubla Khan, present for the eruption, heard a prophecy of war lines 29— An indented section presents an image of the pleasure-dome reflected on the water, surrounded by the sound of the geyser above ground and the river underground lines 31— A final un- indented couplet describes the dome again lines 35— But oh! A savage place! 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 Xanadu tumult to a lifeless ocean: And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far In Xanadu voices prophesying war! It was a miracle of rare device, A sunny pleasure-dome with In Xanadu of ice! The third stanza shifts to In Xanadu first-person perspective of the poem's speaker. In Xanadu once saw a woman in a vision playing a dulcimer lines 37— If he In Xanadu revive her song within himself, he In Xanadu, he would revive the pleasure dome itself with music lines 42— Those In Xanadu heard would also see themselves there, In Xanadu cry out a warning lines 48— Their warning concerns an alarming male figure line The stanza ends with instructions and a warning, to carry out a ritual because he has consumed the food of Paradise lines 51— And all who heard should see them there, And all should cry, 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. Kubla Khan was likely written in Octoberthough the precise date and circumstances of the first composition of Kubla Khan are slightly ambiguous, due limited direct evidence. Coleridge usually dated his poems, but did not date Kubla Khan[5] and did not mention the poem In Xanadu in letters to his friends. Coleridge's descriptions of the poem's composition attribute it to In Xanadu a manuscript in Coleridge's handwriting known as In Xanadu Crewe manuscripta note by Coleridge says that it was composed "in the fall of the year, A May composition date is sometimes proposed because In Xanadu first written record of the poem is in Dorothy Wordsworth's journal, October October has also been suggested because by then Coleridge would have been able to read Robert Southey In Xanadu Thalaba the Destroyera work which drew on the same sources as Kubla Khan. At both time periods, Coleridge was again in the area of Ash Farm, near Culbone Churchwhere Coleridge consistently described In Xanadu the poem. However, the October composition date is more widely accepted. In SeptemberColeridge lived in Nether Stowey in the southwest of England and spent much of his time walking through the nearby Quantock Hills with his fellow poet William Wordsworth and Wordsworth's sister Dorothy [10] In Xanadu route today is memorialised as the " Coleridge Way ". On his return journey, he became sick and rested at Ash Farm, located near Culbone Church and one of the few places to seek shelter on his route. Coleridge In Xanadu the circumstances of his dream and the poem in two In Xanadu on a manuscript copy written some time beforeand in the preface to the printed version of the poem published in In Xanadu to the extended preface narrative, Coleridge was reading Purchas his Pilgrimes by Samuel Purchasand fell asleep after reading about Kublai Khan. Then, he says, he "continued for about three hours in a profound sleep On Awaking he appeared to himself to have a distinct recollection of the whole, and taking his pen, ink, and paper, In Xanadu and eagerly wrote down the lines that are here preserved. When John Livingston Lowes taught the poem, he told his students "If there is any man in the history of literature who In Xanadu be hanged, drawn, and quartered, it is the man on business from Porlock. There are some problems with Coleridge's account, especially the claim In Xanadu have a copy of Purchas with him. It was a rare book, unlikely to be at a "lonely farmhouse", nor would an individual carry it on a journey; the folio was heavy and almost 1, pages in size. Instead, the effects of the opium, as described, are intended to suggest that he was not used to its effects. According to some critics, the second stanza of the poem, forming a conclusion, was composed at a In Xanadu date and In Xanadu possibly disconnected In Xanadu the original dream. After its composition, Coleridge periodically read the poem to friends, as to the Wordsworths inbut did not seek to publish it. The poem was set aside until when Coleridge compiled manuscripts of his poems In Xanadu a collection titled Sibylline Leaves. Byron persuaded Coleridge to publish the poem, and on 12 Aprila contract was drawn up with the publisher John Murray for 80 pounds. A Fragment". Printed with Kubla Khan was a In Xanadu that claimed a dream provided Coleridge the lines. Sometimes, the preface is included in modern editions but lacks both the first and final paragraphs. The book contained a brief description of Xanadu, the summer capital of the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan. Coleridge's preface says that. And thus ten miles of fertile ground were inclosed with a wall. Coleridge names the wrong In Xanadu by Purchas Purchas wrote three books, his Pilgrimagehis Pilgrimand his Pilgrimes ; the last was his collection of travel storiesand misquotes the line. The In Xanadu about Xanadu in Purchas, His Pilgrimeswhich Coleridge admitted he did not remember exactly, was:. In Xandu did Cublai Can build a stately Pallace, encompassing In Xanadu miles of plaine ground with a wall, wherein are fertile Meddowes, pleasant Springs, delightfull streames, and all sorts of beasts of chase and game, and in the middest thereof a In Xanadu house of pleasure, which may be moved from place to place. This quotation was based upon the writings of the Venetian explorer In Xanadu Polo who is widely believed to have visited Xanadu in about In terms of spelling, Coleridge's printed version differs from Purchas's spelling, which refers to the Tartar ruler as "Cublai Can", and from the spelling used by Milton, "Cathaian Can". In the Crewe manuscript the earlier unpublished version of the poemthe Abyssinian maid is singing of Mount Amara, rather than Abora. It was a natural fortress, and was the site of the royal treasury and the royal prison. The sons of the Emperors of Abyssinia, except for the heir, were held prisoner In Xanadu, to prevent them from staging a coup against their father, In Xanadu the Emperor's death. Mount Amara was visited between and In Xanadu Portuguese priest, explorer and diplomat Francisco Alvares — who was on a mission to meet the Christian king of Ethiopia. His description of Mount Amara was published inand appears in Purchas, his Pilgrimesthe book Coleridge was reading before he wrote "Kubla Khan". Mount Amara also appears in Milton's Paradise Lost :. In In Xanadu the Blue Nile is very far from the other three rivers mentioned in Genesis — 14, but this belief led to the connection in 18th and 19th century English literature between Mount Amara and Paradise. Charles Lamb provided Coleridge on 15 April with a copy of his "A Vision of Repentance", a poem that discussed a dream containing imagery similar to those in "Kubla Khan". The poem could have provided Coleridge with the idea of a dream poem that discusses fountains, sacredness, and even a woman singing a sorrowful song. Opium itself has also been seen as a "source" for many of In Xanadu poem's features, such as its disorganized action. These features are similar to writing by other contemporary opium eaters and writers, such as Thomas de Quincey and Charles Pierre Baudelaire. Coleridge may also have been influenced by the surrounding of Culbone Combe and its hills, gulleys, and other features including the "mystical" and "sacred" locations in the region. Other geographic influences include the river, which has been tied to Alpheus in Greece and is similar to the Nile. The caves have been compared to those in Kashmir. The poem is different in style and form from other poems composed by Coleridge. While incomplete and subtitled a "fragment", its language is highly stylised with In Xanadu strong emphasis on sound devices that change between the poem's original two In Xanadu. The In Xanadu according to Coleridge's account, is a fragment of what it should have been, amounting to what he was able to jot down from memory: 54 lines. The second stanza is not necessarily part of the original dream and refers to the dream in the past tense. The poem relies on many sound-based techniques, including cognate variation and chiasmus. Its rhyme scheme found in the first seven lines is repeated in the first seven lines of the second stanza. There is a heavy use of assonancethe reuse of vowel sounds, and a reliance on alliteration, repetition of the first sound of a word, In Xanadu the poem including the first line: "In Xanadu In Xanadu Kubla Khan". The In Xanadu sounds, "Xan", "du", "Ku", "Khan", contain assonance in their use of the sounds a-u-u-a, have two rhyming syllables with "Xan" and "Khan", and employ alliteration with the name "Kubla Khan" and the reuse of "d" sounds in "Xanadu" and "did". To pull the line together, the "i" sound of "In" is repeated in "did". Later lines do not contain the same amount of symmetry but do rely on assonance and rhymes throughout. The only word that has no true connection to another word is "dome" except in its use of a "d" sound. Though the lines are interconnected, the rhyme scheme and line lengths are irregular. The first lines of the poem follow iambic tetrameter with the initial stanza relying In Xanadu heavy stresses. The lines of the second stanza incorporate lighter stresses to increase the speed of the meter to separate them from the hammer-like rhythm of the previous lines. Kubla Khan is also related to the genre of fragmentary poetry, with internal images reinforcing the idea of fragmentation that is found within the form of the poem. Kubla Khan - Wikipedia

At best, this book is comical in its In Xanadu. It is certainly not deserving of the label of a serious travel book. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — In Xanadu by William Dalrymple. While waiting for the results of his college exams, William Dalrymple decides to fill in In Xanadu summer break with a trip. But the vacation he plans is no light-hearted student jaunt In Xanadu he decides to retrace the epic journey of Marco Polo from Jerusalem to In Xanadu, the ruined palace of Kubla Khan, north of Peking. For the first half of the trip he is accompanied by Laura, whom h While waiting for the results of his college exams, William Dalrymple decides to fill in his summer break with a trip. For the first half of the trip he is accompanied by Laura, whom he met at a dinner party two weeks before In Xanadu left; for the second half he is accompanied by Louisa, his very recently ex-girlfriend. Intelligent and funny, "In Xanadu" is travel writing at its best. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published April 1st by Lonely Planet Publications first published More Details Original Title. Other Editions Friend In Xanadu. To see what your friends thought of this book, please In Xanadu up. To ask other readers questions about In Xanaduplease sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your In Xanadu of In Xanadu: A Quest. Aug 08, Antara rated it really liked it. I love William Dalrymple for the simple fact that he writes about his amazing travels through a seamless In Xanadu of fact and fiction. Having read and loved his City of Djinns a must-read if you're a DilliwalaNine Lives and White In Xanadu, I have loved this first book of his as well. In this In Xanadu, the author, a final year Cambridge student, tries to backpack his way through the route Marco Polo had taken - Turkey, Iran and finally China, in the Inner Mongols in Xanadu where Marco Polo ended his I In Xanadu William Dalrymple for the simple fact that he writes about his amazing travels through a seamless blend of fact and fiction. In this book, the author, a final year Cambridge student, tries to backpack his way through the route Marco Polo had taken - Turkey, Iran and finally China, in the Inner Mongols in Xanadu where Marco Polo ended his voyage. In volatile political conditions, with a nomad's eye, a sometimes cynical sense of humor and only a 13th century book to guide him, the author takes the reader through time. With him we experience the creation of history, the readiness to savor the unexpected and the realization of why humans through centuries have been driven by wanderlust for the unknown - because, more often In Xanadu not, it is quite literally the journey and not the destination that matters. I used to In Xanadu Dalrymple. But this book turned out to be yet another account of a In Xanadu man on a daring trip across the world in dangerous lands from whence it is next to impossible to come out alive, all while writing encouragingly of every stereotype the Whites have ever come up with of every In Xanadu race apart from themselves. Anyone who is not a British is either dangerous, "stupid", uncouth, imbecilic, unfriendly and hostile or subservient to the White man in a servile way. In way too many passages, Dalrymple speaks less like a historian and more like an inflated Cambridge spoiled brat and the pages are In Xanadu of his whining. The beginning of his journey reveals him as one whose ego cannot seem In Xanadu accept the fact that the Byzantines lost and the Ottomans won in the years past. There is not a single positive word I have come across written of the Ottomans or of the Turks in general. Any positive comment that the reader comes across is only when In Xanadu has run out of anything negative to say, and even that is immediately followed by a passage with disparaging humour that negates what came previously. Dalrymple's words stink of the awareness of their wretched losses in the past. His patronising tone does not help In Xanadu conceal his thinly veiled racism and antagonism towards other In Xanadu. Even his Islamophobia shines across in this telling exchange: '"You like Islam? Eager to be a success, Dalrymple's attempts to make people laugh comprise of mining the Englishman's guidebook to stereotyping the rest of the world. In Xanadu makes fun of the people's inabilities to speak English, often translating what they speak in their native tongues into broken and incorrect English in order In Xanadu elicit cheap laughs from his colonial audience. A lot of the conversations seem made up as they seem very convenient to Dalrymple's cause of sounding witty. I do not In Xanadu if it is an attempt on his part to come across as a "critical scholar of Cambridge" but if it is so, it falls flat on its face, only highlighting his racist mindset. There is an air of self-aggrandisement in every page and his spoilt White-boy privilege reeks from every word. He does not even spare his female travel companions. His portrayal of Laura and Louisa reads like caricature, which is true of his representation of practically everyone he meets on the way as well. While he subtly puts across messages like how European girls are the only girls worth calling beautiful etc. Laura, his travel companion In Xanadu the first half of the journey is painted as a tough, domineering and indestructible woman while Louisa, who accompanies him in the second half, is the polar opposite of being "beautiful, delicate and fragrant" his words not mine. He In Xanadu also genuinely surprised to find Laura reading Mills and Boon at one stage of their journey and seems incapable of reconciling the fact that someone as tough as Laura could be capable of In Xanadu healthy sexual desires as well, and that she would In Xanadu to In Xanadu erotica out in the open rather than the obviously intellectually superior Fall of Constantinople which he makes a point of boasting before changing In Xanadu topic. The exchanges with the natives are almost all carried out by Dalrymple with Laura and Louisa sometimes chipping in to not let the reader forget about their existence. I pity those poor, intelligent women who had to suffer William Dalrymple's company for such a long, overland journey. I am willing to excuse him on the grounds that he was merely 20 years old when he wrote this book. Still, that is not excuse enough as that is old enough to know the difference between good humour and outright disrespect of other cultures. I also In Xanadu his determination in following this journey out to the end, and for laying the ground and following up with an original idea. Credits where credits due: following Marco Polo's footsteps across the Silk Road is, after all, quite a feat and I give it an extra star only because of his excellent command over the turns In Xanadu the English language. I only wish this journey was attempted by someone who would show more respect to the cultures and In Xanadu that are encountered in this journey. I wonder, sometimes, if someone were to write a travel book In Xanadu the West in an equally disparaging and patronising manner, would it get published? View all 3 comments. A Thousand and One Tales from the Silk Road This is quite simply an enchanting book and for two interconnected reasons. The first In Xanadu most striking reason is that Dalrymple manages to capture and convey the shear sense of wonder and excitement that comes from traveling across the world when young. So young, in In Xanadu, that I kept having to remind myself that he was only 22 when he wrote it. If that were its only In Xanadu aspect the book would be just one of many other worthy works of travel and ex A Thousand and One Tales from the Silk Road This is quite simply an enchanting book and for two interconnected reasons. If that were its only noteworthy aspect the book would be just one In Xanadu many other worthy works of travel and exploration. What makes Dalrymple's book so compelling is his extensive grasp of the history and culture of the lands through which he traveled. I like to think that I have read a little of the literature relevant to the countries he passed through but time and again In Xanadu was brought up short by some tale In Xanadu a character, event or place of which I had never heard but that had caught Dalrymple's imagination and whose story he wished to share. He proved to be a teller of tales every bit as adept and entrancing as Scheherazade. The premise of the book is that after graduating Dalrymple wanted to re-trace the footsteps of Marco Polo from In Xanadu across Asia Minor and deep into the heart of Asia in search of In Xanadu legendary Xanadu. To do this he had to pass through Israel, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and China, visiting some of the most important and memorable sites of antiquity on the way. He made his journey in the late 80s meaning that his journey, In Xanadu maybe not as perilous or difficult, was a worthy successor to Marco Polo's epic voyage. Since reading In Xanadu I have gone on to read several other books by Dalrymple and while his mature style is a little more settled and refined I look back on this first journey I shared with him In Xanadu a special In Xanadu for its marvelous exuberance and sense of the infinite possibility of youth. A fun trek across the continent. Full of entertaining In Xanadu, colorful characters and challenges. Well worth the read. Recommended In Xanadu me by my daughter who was spot on once again. Dalrymple entertains with his British wit, colorful portrayals, sense of In Xanadu and In Xanadu of his fellow travels. Although a fun read, it gives the reader historical context as well as a look at the different cultures. Recommend for Around the World readers. View 1 comment. Aug 16, Adi rated it liked it Shelves: travelnonfictionhistoryturkeychina. He then immortalized his journey in The Travels, which later became one of the most detailed pieces of travel writing ever completed. In his first book, the then year old Mr. Darlymple takes readers back on the same route, attempting at every page to compare and re-live the experience that Polo may have felt on his epic journey. In an age where thousands of miles are shrunk into a ten-hour ride in an aluminum tube, Xanadu refreshes the reader by painting the gradual transitions that are an essential part of going from one place to another. The appearance of the lamps in the Holy Sepulcher, the design of Turkish mosques, a rare silk mill in a Armenian village or the vivid descriptions of a Uighur market in China — the details are just beautiful. Darlymple is clearly of scholarly leanings, a fact brought out repeatedly in the intricate descriptions of the architecture, and his ability to go back to some In Xanadu text to draw a comparison between the In Xanadu and the past. Little vignettes — like that In Xanadu a very helpful Turkish innkeeper, a mullah at a bus station in In Xanadu Iran-Afghan border, and a persistent Chinese saleswoman, known simply as Ms.