It is said that S.T.C. was in an opium trance when he wrote this poetic '' fragment ''.
A visitor called and snapped the stream of his poetic creation.
This is credible. The verse creates poetry at the conscious and subconscious levels and has veiled sexual imagery. This fragment is complete as a poetic creation.
go listen to "RUSH" the album called farewell to kings the song "xanadu" recites this poem in a very tasty way. one of the best songs ever written by anyone.
Thanks for this posting. Has anyone read a book I had to read about 30 years ago, The Road to Xanadu, by J.Lowes. Goes through the poem line by line and shows where Coleridge got inspiration from his own previous reading, based on notes Coleridge made in all sorts of books he owned.
This poem is so about sex and a fertile vagina. Just read the lines carefully and think sexual, youll get EVERY word. River Alph is ejaculation etc. just listen carefully to the words. Caverns measurless to man is the womb
I don't think your interpretation is wrong or even off, but, for example, River Alph is also perhaps the Alph(abet) that is, language. Poetry is potentially very multidimensional and like sex it can have a lot of creative energy (and be very sexy). I don't know why people are thumbs downing you because there is lots of sexually charged imagery in this poem, even if it is not "SO about sex and a fertile vagina".
Brychar66, this is another fine, illuminating, reading.
Freud said ALL art is about sex (most often by means of sublimation). These days he's out of fashion, but I'm inclined to agree. Sex is what maintains our vital tie with nature. Without its abiding force we would turn into monsters or machines.
Freud's ideas are inextricably part of Western /World culture. He might have been wrong about this or that, and too many people overindulged in facil Freudianism, but he was a STUPENDOUS thinker (and art critic).
As to sex being at the root of all art, I can only reply what I said about this one poem. Maybe so. But Freud himself said "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar". Sex remains vital even if not THE root of all art. Without multidimensional thinking we're back to monsters and machines.
I am almost obsessed with this poem having of course dismissed it in my younger years. I like your version. Your version is absolutely timeless. Thanks for posting.
Thank you very much. I liked your version also, a much younger voice than mine and a spiffing video. (My computer seems to deliver very shaky videos!)
Oh that was good to hear ... the flawed genius that is S.T. Coleridge, and I can recommend Richard Holmes' two volume biography of the poet if you haven't read that already. As with many addicts Sam managed to self-destruct when things seem to be improving, but he wrote some wonderful verse along the way. Thanks
Read in a classical fashion and with a haunting hesitation. Not as I have heard it in my heart and head, but lovely nevertheless.
MabusZero 2 months ago
@hasanfanful
Shoehumper 8 months ago
It is said that S.T.C. was in an opium trance when he wrote this poetic '' fragment ''.
A visitor called and snapped the stream of his poetic creation.
This is credible. The verse creates poetry at the conscious and subconscious levels and has veiled sexual imagery. This fragment is complete as a poetic creation.
daddio7777777 1 year ago
i want the explanation
hasanfanful 1 year ago
go listen to "RUSH" the album called farewell to kings the song "xanadu" recites this poem in a very tasty way. one of the best songs ever written by anyone.
fullerals 1 year ago
I heard the guy was high when he wrote this
rsmaster10000 2 years ago
@rsmaster10000 It was written after waking from an opium dream, so yes, very very high
reciporkate 2 years ago
Thank you Douglas Noel Adams for introducing me to this poem and thank you Samuel Taylor Coleridge for writing it!
tibbetts14 2 years ago
What a classic voice.
VisionGhostPoet 2 years ago
Well from one classic voice to another (yours) THANKS!!
brychar66 2 years ago
Beautiful. Love it....and never tire of hearing it.
slitheen 3 years ago
Thanx Slitheen - a Doctor Who fan I see :)
cavafyinenglish 3 years ago
Chas, BRAVO!, YF, Egon
KingOfBohemians 3 years ago
Cheers Egon!
brychar66 3 years ago
Again, dear sir, I need to pay tribute to your poetry-reading skill. The voice is resonant. The rhythm is apparent but never overdriven.
trisoctehedron 3 years ago
Very many thanks. Charles.
brychar66 3 years ago
Thanks for this posting. Has anyone read a book I had to read about 30 years ago, The Road to Xanadu, by J.Lowes. Goes through the poem line by line and shows where Coleridge got inspiration from his own previous reading, based on notes Coleridge made in all sorts of books he owned.
Rich4595 3 years ago
They say that that book was very important to the 20th century re-evaluation of romanticism.
kirbycairo 3 years ago
Thank you.
brychar66 3 years ago
This poem is so about sex and a fertile vagina. Just read the lines carefully and think sexual, youll get EVERY word. River Alph is ejaculation etc. just listen carefully to the words. Caverns measurless to man is the womb
andru425 3 years ago
andru425
I don't think your interpretation is wrong or even off, but, for example, River Alph is also perhaps the Alph(abet) that is, language. Poetry is potentially very multidimensional and like sex it can have a lot of creative energy (and be very sexy). I don't know why people are thumbs downing you because there is lots of sexually charged imagery in this poem, even if it is not "SO about sex and a fertile vagina".
Brychar66, this is another fine, illuminating, reading.
gnikcohs 3 years ago
Freud said ALL art is about sex (most often by means of sublimation). These days he's out of fashion, but I'm inclined to agree. Sex is what maintains our vital tie with nature. Without its abiding force we would turn into monsters or machines.
trisoctehedron 3 years ago
Freud's ideas are inextricably part of Western /World culture. He might have been wrong about this or that, and too many people overindulged in facil Freudianism, but he was a STUPENDOUS thinker (and art critic).
As to sex being at the root of all art, I can only reply what I said about this one poem. Maybe so. But Freud himself said "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar". Sex remains vital even if not THE root of all art. Without multidimensional thinking we're back to monsters and machines.
gnikcohs 3 years ago
I regret that I can hear the ancestral voices in the world today.
Hero1957 4 years ago
I am almost obsessed with this poem having of course dismissed it in my younger years. I like your version. Your version is absolutely timeless. Thanks for posting.
voxinabox 4 years ago 6
Thank you very much. I liked your version also, a much younger voice than mine and a spiffing video. (My computer seems to deliver very shaky videos!)
brychar66 4 years ago
Oh that was good to hear ... the flawed genius that is S.T. Coleridge, and I can recommend Richard Holmes' two volume biography of the poet if you haven't read that already. As with many addicts Sam managed to self-destruct when things seem to be improving, but he wrote some wonderful verse along the way. Thanks
MightyMelmoth 4 years ago
No I haven't read the biography, must look it up. It's really odd that Sam's degrading habit should have given birth to such stunning verse.
brychar66 4 years ago