塞缪尔·泰勒·柯尔律治（Samuel Taylor Coleridge）1772年10月21日生于英格兰西南部德文郡一个乡镇牧师的家庭。9岁丧父，被送往伦敦基督慈幼学校上学，熟读希腊、罗马文学。19岁入剑桥大学，与骚塞相识。当时两人都同情法国革命，但又都害怕革命暴力，于是设想去美洲建立乌托邦社会。计划失败后柯尔律治移居英格兰部西部湖区，致力于写诗，并与华兹华斯结成密友。他憎恶资本主义城市文明和冷酷的金钱关系，于是远离城市，隐居于昆布兰湖区，寄情山水或缅怀中世纪的宗法社会。他们创作出歌颂大自然的或美化宗法制农村生活方式的诗篇，以抵制丑恶的资本主义现实。因此被称为“湖畔派诗人”。
《忽必烈汗》是一首仅有54行的诗。这是个充满了东方情调的梦。据作者说，一日因身体不适，饮了一点鸦片酊，当时他正在读一篇有关忽必烈建造宫殿的游记，没读完就因药物发作而睡着了。在梦中，梦见自己写了二三 百行诗，醒来后记忆犹新，便赶紧抄录下来，但写到54行时，一位客人的到 来把他打断了，之后不复记得其余的诗行。这首梦幻性的诗被最优秀的批评 家认为是最精美的。诗中有亚洲的大汗、地下圣河、阴冷的大海、森林、有围墙和寄望塔的宫殿和御花园，还有操琴的非洲姑娘以及啜饮甘露和天堂的灵感之泉的诗人。在这首诗中，诗人用他的想象力把这一切融合在一起。
Kubla Khan
忽必烈汗
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
忽必列汗在上都曾经
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
下令造一座堂皇的安乐殿堂:
Where Alph, the sacrecl river, ran
这地方有圣河亚佛流奔，
Through caverns measureless to man
穿过深不可测的洞门，
Down to a sunless sea.
直流入不见阳光的海洋。
So twice five miles of fertile ground
有方圆五英里肥沃的土壤，
With walls and towers were girdled round:
四周给围上楼塔和城墙:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
那里有花园，蜿蜒的溪河在其间闪耀，
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
园里树枝上鲜花盛开，一片芬芳;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
这里有森林，跟山峦同样古老，
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.
围住了洒满阳光的一块块青草草场。
But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
但是，啊！那深沉而奇异的巨壑，
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
沿青山斜裂，横过伞盖的柏树！
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
野蛮的地方，既神圣而又着了魔
As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted
好像有女人在衰落的月色里出没，
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!
为她的魔鬼情郎而凄声嚎哭！
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
巨壑下，不绝的喧嚣在沸腾汹涌，
As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
似乎这土地正喘息在快速而猛烈的悸动中，
A mighty fountain momently was forced:
从这巨壑里，不断迸出股猛烈的地泉；
Amid whose swift half- intermitted burst
在它那断时续的涌迸之间，
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
巨大的石块飞跃着象反跳的冰雹，
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail:
或者象打稻人连枷下一撮撮新稻；
And'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
从这些舞蹈的岩石中，
It flung up momently the sacred river.
时时刻刻 迸发出那条神圣的溪河。
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
迷乱地移动着，蜿蜒了五英里地方，
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
那神圣的溪河流过了峡谷和森林，
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
于是到达了深不可测的洞门，
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean:
在喧嚣中沉入了没有生命的海洋；
And ‘mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
从那喧嚣中忽必列远远听到
Ancestral voices prophesying war!
祖先的喊声预言着战争的凶兆！
The shadow of the dome of pleasure
安乐的宫殿有倒影，
Floated midway on the waves;
宛在水波的中央漂动；
Where was heard the mingled measure
这儿能听见和谐的音韵
From the fountain and the caves.
来自那地泉和那岩洞。
It was a miracle of rare device,
这是个奇迹呀，算得是稀有的技巧，
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!
阳光灿烂的安乐宫，
A damsel with a dulcimer
连同那雪窟冰窖!
In a vision once I saw:
有一回我在幻象中见到,
It was an Abyssinian maid,
那是个阿比西尼亚少女，
And on her dulcimer she played,
在她的琴上她奏出乐曲，
Singing of Mount Abora.
歌唱着阿伯若山。
Could I revive within me
如果我心中能再度产生
Her symphony and song,
她的音乐和歌唱，
To such a deep delight ‘twould wiff me,
我将被引入如此深切的欢欣，
That with music loud and long,
以至于我要用音乐高朗而又长久
I would build that dome in air,
在空中建造那安乐宫廷，
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
阳光照临的宫廷，那雪窟冰窖！
And all who heard should see them there,
那谁都能见到这宫殿，
And all should cry, “Beware! Beware!
只要听见了乐音。 他们全都会喊叫:当心！当心！
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
他飘动的头发，他闪光的眼睛！
Weave a circle round himthrice,
织一个圆圈，把他三道围住，
And close your eyes with holy dread,
闭下你两眼，带着神圣的恐惧，
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
因为他一直吃着蜜样甘露，
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
一直饮着天堂的琼浆仙乳。
