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  • Kubla Khan
    Kubla Khan
    noun
    a poetic fragment (1797) by Coleridge.
  • “Kubla Khan”
    “Kubla Khan”
    An evocative poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge about an exotic emperor. It begins with these lines: “In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure-dome decree….”

Kubla Khan

American  
[koo-bluh kahn] / ˈku blə ˈkɑn /

noun

  1. (italics) a poetic fragment (1797) by Coleridge.

  2. Kublai Khan.


“Kubla Khan” Cultural  
  1. An evocative poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge about an exotic emperor. It begins with these lines: “In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure-dome decree….”


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Speaking of his friend Carl Fisher, the Kubla Khan of Miami Beach, Rogers said, “Carl discovered that sand could hold up a real estate sign.”

From New York Times ● Jan. 14, 2020

With Marco Polo, you might say that Netflix is courting the global market just as Polo flattered Kubla Khan.

From Forbes ● Dec. 9, 2014

And if a marathon of two Brit Rich Littles doesn't appeal, attend to the pair's inspired improvs of a medieval hero leading his troops to battle, or of their exegesis of Coleridge's "Kubla Khan."

From Time ● Jun. 10, 2011

Of course the opening lines of Kubla Khan were quoted at the beginning of Citizen Kane, so I looked up the poem just for research – "context".

From The Guardian ● Mar. 24, 2011

The rest of us, though we may feel no call to denounce Coleridge for these proceedings, may surely hold that "The Ancient Mariner" and "Kubla Khan" are no defence to the particular charges.

From Essays in English Literature, 1780-1860 by George Saintsbury

What is the unambiguous message of “Kubla Khan”?

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 3, 2018

Remember that “person from Porlock” who messes up Coleridge when he’s writing “Kubla Khan”? Coleridge goes to the door and comes back, like, “What! I’ve lost it now!”

From Slate

I don’t buy that Breaking Bad is art in the same way “Kubla Khan” is art.

From Newsweek

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