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Xenophobic Xylophones in eXistential splendor....

X is for Xanadu.....

Let's face it, there aren't that many 'X' words that would make for an interesting post.

I could talk about xenophobes and their reluctance to associate or trust people they don't know...

I could talk about wooden Xylophones and their differences/similarities to their cousins the metal 'bell-play' Glockenspiels...

But, why not talk about a place whose name is synonymous with beauty, luxury and opulence. Besides, Xanadu is a cool word to say--- almost sounds magical and definitely sounds mysterious.

Coleridge's poem, Kubla Khan, speaks of the savage conqueror's desire to build an earthly paradise, his Xanadu, in ten miles of the most fertile land in what is now the Inner Mongolian region of China. The poem also describes the pleasure dome's majesty....but, still, Xanadu was a man-made Utopia.

And, like all other 'unnatural' things, the world has a way of taking them back. In Coleridge's poem, the sea rises up and claims the pleasure dome, setting it adrift until the dome becomes a dome of ice.
Xanadu, is little more than ruins, today, having fallen prey to nature's own conquest.

The final portion of Coleridge's poem speaks of building the dome in the air and of drinking the milk of paradise... perhaps it's an attempt to construct a paradise that is eternal or that won't be swept away by the sea. Perhaps it is the narrator finally realizing that the only eternal paradise is one that was never built by human hands.....
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Comments

  1. David MacaulayApril 28, 2011 at 4:24 PM

    I never thought of Xanadu but what a great post. You are also making me wonder what happened to my copy of Fisherman's Blues...

    ReplyDelete
  2. e.a.s. demersApril 28, 2011 at 5:52 PM

    LOVE Fisherman's Blues.... :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joe RichardsonApril 29, 2011 at 12:02 AM

    The illustration makes me think of Angkor Wat. Yet another place I'd love to photograph.

    You know, I'm afraid Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly have done me in on Xanadu. It was such an unlikely pairing, I can't see past it to all the ancient splendor.

    Thanks for stopping in today. Sorry x was MIA. It's always nice to see you.


    Best,
    Joe
    x: crossroads

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sylvia NeyApril 29, 2011 at 1:13 PM

    Good post. I'm so glad I found your blog! I'm stopping by from the A to Z challenge and I look forward to visiting again.

    ReplyDelete
  5. e.a.s. demersApril 29, 2011 at 9:53 PM

    @Joe--- Aw, sorry Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly ruined Xanadu for you, I guess I'm lucky to not know this particular version of Xanadu!

    @Sylvia--- Nice to meet you and thanks for stopping in :-)

    ReplyDelete

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