Editing Kubla Khan (section)

==Poem==
The poem is divided into three irregular stanzas, which move loosely between different times and places.

The first stanza begins with a fanciful description of the origin of Kublai Khan's capital [[Shangdu|Xanadu]] (lines 1–2).<ref>Holmes, Richard. ''Coleridge: Early Visions, 1772–1804''. New York: Pantheon, 1989.</ref> It is described as being near the river Alph, which passes through caves before reaching a dark sea (lines 3–5). Ten miles of land were surrounded with fortified walls (lines 6–7), encompassing lush gardens and forests (lines 8–11).

The second stanza describes a mysterious canyon (lines 12–16). A [[hydrothermal explosion]] erupted from the canyon (lines 17–19), throwing rubble into the air (lines 20–23) and forming the source of the sacred river Alph (line 24). The river wandered through the woods, then reached the caves and dark sea described in the first stanza (lines 25–28). Kubla Khan, present for the eruption, heard a prophecy of war (lines 29–30). 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 31–34). A final un-indented couplet describes the dome again (lines 35–36).

The third stanza shifts to the first-person perspective of the poem's speaker. He once saw a woman in a vision playing a [[dulcimer]] (lines 37–41). If he could revive her song within himself, he says, he would revive the pleasure dome itself with music (lines 42–47). Those who heard would also see themselves there, and cry out a warning (lines 48–49). Their warning concerns an alarming male figure (line 50). The stanza ends with instructions and a warning, to carry out a ritual because he has consumed the food of Paradise (lines 51–54).