Kubla Khan e um poema escrito porSamuel Taylor Coleridge, poeta ingles, em homenagem ao grande lider mongolKublai Khan e seu palacio de verao, Xanadu. O poema descreve eloquentementeXanadu e o rio sagrado Alph, as vezes de forma subjetiva, outras, de forma direta,a atraves desse relato fala de seus proprios sentimentos. Esse poema e umaprova do fascinio que o Ocidente tinha pelo Oriente, ou mais alem, do fascinioque o homem tem do desconhecido. Essa traducao tenta ao maximorespeitar a metrica e o esquema de rimas do poema original, e toma algumasliberdades onde o tradutor achou que elas seriam bem-vindas.KUBLA KHANSamuel Taylor ColeridgeIn Xanadu did Kubla KhanA stately pleasure-dome decree:Where Alph, the sacred river, ranThrough caverns measureless to manDown to a sunless sea.So twice five miles of fertile groundWith walls and towers were girdled round:And there were gardens bright with sinuousrills,Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;And here were forests ancient as the hills,Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.But oh! That deep romantic chasm which slantedDown the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!A savage place! As holy and enchantedAs e'er beneath a waning moon was hauntedBy woman wailing for her demon-lover!And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoilseething,As if this earth in fast thick pants werebreathing,A mighty fountain momently was forced:Amid whose swift half-intermitted burstHuge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail:And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and everIt flung up momently the sacred river.Five miles meandering with a mazy motionThrough wood and dale the sacred river ran,Then reached the caverns measureless to man,And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean:And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from farAncestral voices prophesying war!The shadow of the dome of pleasureFloated midway on the waves;Where was heard the mingled measureFrom the fountain and the caves.It was a miracle of rare device,A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!A damsel with a dulcimerIn a vision once I saw:It was an Abyssinian maid,And on her dulcimer she played,Singing of Mount Abora.Could I revive within meHer symphony and song,To such a deep delight 'twould win meThat with music loud and longI would build that dome in air,That sunny dome! those caves of ice!And all who heard should see them there,And all should cry, Beware! Beware!His flashing eyes, his floating hair!Weave a circle round him thrice,And close your eyes with holy dread,For he on honey-dew hath fedAnd drunk the milk of Paradise.KUBLA KHANSamuelTaylor ColeridgeEm Xanadu erigiu Kubla KhanUm domo de prazer decretadoOnde o rio sagrado Alph corriaEm cavernas que o homem nao mediriaEm um mar pelo sol nao explorado.O solo fertil se estendiaCom ameias trancadas ao diaNos jardins e trilhas sinuosasFlorescia uma arvore de incensoEm florestas tao misteriosasCom raras manchas ensolaradas.Mas ah! O profundoabismo romanticoNa colina, coberta demadeira cortanteLugar selvagem! Santo,como um cantico Pois, a lua em prantose amaldicoadaPor uma dama e seudemoniaco amanteE do abismo, inquietoe ferventeComo se a terrarespirasse inocenteUma fonte surgiu, nomomento forcadaE vindo de seu jatointerrompidoFragmentos cairam comogranizoOu graos que somem semavisoE dentre as rochas emsua dancaCorreu acima o rio semtemperancaSeguindo seu caminhosinuosamenteE dentre a madeira orio corriaAte as cavernas que ohomem nao mediriaE afundou em tumultonum