ABC Wednesday X is for Xanadu

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea.

Extract from 'Kubla Khan' written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) and published in 1816

Xanadu, previously known as Kai Ping, was the summer capital of the Yuan Dynasty. The Mongolian Yuan Dynasty was founded in 1271 by Kublai Khan, grandson of Gengis Khan. It ruled China from 1279 to 1368. Emperor Kublai Khan made Dadu, present-day Beijing, the capital of his empire, but the summer heat and humidity of the city persuaded him to establish an alternative capital closer to the cooler plains of his native Mongolia.

Xanadu first came to the notice of the Western world after Marco Polo visited the city in 1275. It was portrayed by him and later by Coleridge as exotic, mysterious and filled with riches.
Thank you to Denise Nesbitt for her hard work in organising and hosting this meme.
Click here to see what others have found for X.

Once in a Blue Moon

The moving Moon went up the sky,

And nowhere did abide;

Softly she was going up

And a star or two beside - -

From 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 – 1834)

The expression 'Once in a Blue Moon' means 'infrequently' or 'rarely' and originally referred to a second full moon in the same calendar month. December 2009 is a Blue Moon month so we can anticipate another full moon on New Year's Eve to shepherd out the old year and welcome in the new. Theoretically, since the moon is full every 29½ days, all months apart from February could experience a Blue Moon but they occur on average only every 33 months. The next Blue Moon after this month's will not be seen until August 2012. A newer definition of Blue Moon describes it as the third of four full moons in a season. I prefer the first characterisation since the seasons, in UK at least, are not always clearly delineated. The December full moon is called the Moon Before Yule, Long Night Moon, Christmas Moon or, more prosaically, the Cold Moon. Last night's full moon, though not the Blue Moon, appeared to have a bluish tinge as it shone through misty clouds.

Perhaps you will have the words and tune of Rodgers' and Hart's song running through your head when you see the words 'Blue Moon' . . .

Blue moon,

you saw me standing alone

without a dream in my heart

without a love on my own.

You can listen to Julie London singing it here