It is said that Samuel Taylor Coleridge did not understand the importance of his vision of Xanadu until, more than thirty years after setting it down, he came to Oneiropolis and met the mighty Khan himself. A great adventure then followed; but that is too long a story to be told here. For those of you in our world, however, who are intimidated by the pronouncements of the critics (or even worse, for those who are in thrall to them), I direct you to this collection of amusing historical anecdotes.
“As to ‘Kubla Khan’, and the ‘Pains of Sleep’, we can only regret the publication of them, as affording a proof that the Author over-rates the importance of his name.”
– Josiah Conder
Few remember Josiah Conder now (except for his descendants, the ghoulish creatures known as the Commenters Below Newspaper Articles), but Coleridge’s vision of Kubla Khan inspires still.