The Greatest Lost Masterpiece of All Time

Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Like Blake, Keats and Shelley, a great conceptualist set free by the fires of the enlightenment, a mind that reached beyond the narrow strictures of the world and let loose pure imagination in his words.

You can keep your Wordsworth, his Daffodils and his shades of the prison house.

Coleridge, one of the most underrated of the romantic poets, classed with Wordsworth and the non-entity Southey as a Lake poet.
What an insult.

Those of us who find our souls lifted by the intensity of 'The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner' can only mourn that one of our greatest poets could never give us his greatest vision.

I feel a sense of loss every time I read Kubla Khan.

For those who do not know the story of this poem, here we go.

Coleridge was an Opium user. Now, there was nothing particularly unusual about that at the time. The Victorians were slightly less judgemental about using drugs to find your muse than we are, and without wishing to sound like an advert for the use of such stimulation, look at the quality (or lack thereof) of our current poet laureate, Mr Motion.

Coleridge had retreated to the Somerset coast for a period of reflection. He had smoked a fair bit of Opium that day, even by his own standards before going to sleep. He had one of those intense dreams, no doubt fuelled by that intense speculation that can come with mind altering drugs.

The East was just being opened up then. The Orient was still a strange world, but one which was slowly making its way into the living rooms of England.
It was still a strange hemisphere and the romance of Kubla Khan, known through the tantalising tales of Marco Polo still enchanted.

Coleridge awoke with a vision. A vision he knew would be the most beautiful he would ever have. This would be the greatest poem he had ever written, and the rest of his life would pale by comparison.
He knew this with absolute certainty.

And here is how he began.

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.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
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 slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced:
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail:
And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through 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 far
Ancestral voices prophesying war!
The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves;
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!

And then there was a knock at the door.
Coleridge ignores it.
The guy is persistent.

I'm sure we can all picture the resigned irritation on Coleridge's face as he opens the door.
It is a salesman from nearby Porlock. I'd love to say Coleridge told him where to stick it, but the great visionary was too polite.
And it cost him.

Half an hour later, the salesman is gone.
But so is Coleridge's vision.

He wracked his brains, but could not bring back his dream.

The obvious solution was try more Opium, but after days of Opium dreams, the vision in question had not returned.

Eventually Coleridge conceded defeat and appended his lament for his lost vision to the glorious lines he had managed to produce.

And so Kubla Khan, as we know it, ends thus;

A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight 'twould win me,
That with music loud and long,
I 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 fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.

And so we look forlornly on what promised to be one of the finest compositions in the English language.
And mourn.

Bloody Salesmen!!!

What's Happening Right Here

There is something happening across the globe.

And most people have not cottoned on yet.

Whispers drift in the wind, escaping from the Underground...

The Bloggosphere.

I know most of you know that anyway, but let's just stand back and look, in a week when we are watching the first Blogpower Awards taking place.

In a culture that's used to gunning people down for holding the wrong opinions, people like Wayne here, people like Bel here, and people like me can co-exist and exchange our views under the same umbrella and have our very different views respected.

This is a positive step forward.

The beauty of the bloggosphere is the way it interlinks. The way people come upon new friends through old favourites. It's nice to see people visit eachother's sites, who you know did so because they checked out the other commentors on your blog when they commented.
The freeflow exchange of ideas continues.

And the Awards happening now, managed ably, fairly and probably exhaustedly, by James Higham, himself a blogger of the highest order (hint; he deserves an award himself), prove that something is in the air.

Of course is it is. Blogging has become a phenomenon different to any other internet phenomenon.
Because most of us are not the traditional computer-techie type.

I only started this recently. This time last year, I only ever used the internet for information purposes. Hell, if my computer had no signal at work, I'd be on to IT, only to find it was a wire disconnected.
The same thing, I think,goes for a good number of those who are now regular acquaintances of mine through this medium.

What has happened is that this has now become the medium of choice for people who want to engage in real debate about our future as a species. People who can see the step forward this can bring in pooling intellect, knowledge, ideas- and just as important- emotion, to truly acheive something.

And that can be to make you think, make you laugh, make you cry. We love Sicily Scene and we love Mutley.

Who needs the Telegraph any more?

Don't ANY of you underestimate your own blogs.
You're all of you in on something important.

Now go vote in the Blogpower Awards.

The Left- Right Spectrum Myth

In the fevered brains of political theorists, party members and commentators generally, there exists this comforting fantasy.

We've all heard of it.

The Left-Right political spectrum.

The idea is that all our views can be placed conveniently on a simple sliding scale. Do you want to change everything, or live in the past?
And apparently, it's that simple.

Or it is, if you like to believe that we all fit in to nice little boxes. It would certainly make it easier for politicians if we did.

If you think about it sensibly, you realise that it's got to be a daft theory, and one that only serves political organisations who desire to streamline voting patterns.

Here's a couple of easy proofs that it's just not that clear cut.
Most Irish Catholics resident in this country vote Labour.
This might lead you to think that a country full of Irish Catholics, was quite a left wing country.
But no.
The Irish Labour party, traditionally to the right of it's UK counterpart, has never moved above third place. Both main parties in the Republic are practically indistinguishable on a simple Left-Right spectrum, yet the gulf betwen them, and between their supporters is as great, if not greater, than between Thatcher and Foot.
Irish Catholics in Britain don't actually vote FOR Labour, they vote AGAINST the Pro-Unionist, traditionally Anglican Tories.

Which is sometimes quite ironic.

The other problem with the Left-Right spectrum is in it's attempts to work in two dimensions, we find this nebulous concept of 'far right', which is usually taken to have its paradigm in National Socialism.
To say that large parts of the Nazi agenda WEREN'T Socialist, is clearly deluded. Yet here we have it placed at the opposite end to other forms of Socialism, with completely NON socialist ideas placed in between.

To compare conservative groups in America with conservative groups in Iran is likewise bizarre. They are conserving different cultures.

Yet we are asked to define our politics as being one label or another.

I am sure I am not alone in holding a plethora of different opinions, some of which would be defined as conservative, some liberal, some ultra-left.
What's wrong with that?

What's wrong with treating each issue on it's own merits?

OK, I'm going to share with you ten important beliefs of mine, each of which can determine my vote.
You guess where I usually cast my vote.

1. I think too little attention is paid to investing in Arts and Science.
2. I think EU membership is not beneficial to the UK.
3. I support Irish Unity and Scottish Independence.
4. I believe in full drugs legalisation.
5. I oppose ANY moves to increase police powers, introduce ID cards, or otherwise use this largely imaginary terror threat to take away fundamental civil liberties.
6. I oppose abortion for social reasons.
7. I think when this Queen has gone, we should consider becoming a Republic.
8. I think general taxation is far too high.
9. I believe Nuclear power to be the way forward.
10. I think any society that uses Absolute poverty as opposed to Relative poverty as a social indicator, creates problems for itself.

So who do I vote for?
Am a Fascist or a Trot?

You tell me.

More Comedy Scams

This one is just too humourous NOT to post.
Read the bit about having contacted me after seeking divine guidance.


From The Desk Of Godwin Amiri.
The Head Of File Department,
African Development Bank (A.D.B).
Ouagadougou Burkina-Faso West Africa .
My Cell Phone Number: 00226-7885 75 97.
PLANE CRASH WEB SITE...http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm.

("REMITTANCE OF $15 MILLION U.S.A DOLLARS
CONFIDENTIAL IS THE CASE")


Compliments Of The Season,

Forgive my indignation if this message comes to you as a surprise and
may offend your personality for contacting you without your prior consent and
writing through this channel.I got your contact from the proffesional data base
found in the internet Yahoo tourist search.When i was searching for a foreign reliable partner.I assured of your capability and reliability to champion this business opportunity.

After series of prayers/fasting.i was divinely directed to contact you
among other names found in the data base Yahoo tourist search.I believe that God has a way of helping who is in need.

I am (Godwin Amiri.),the Head of file Department in African development bank (ADB).

In my department we discovered an abandoned sum of $ 15 million U.S.A dollars ( fifteen million U.S.A dollars) . In an account that belongs to one of our foreign customer who died along with his entire family in (Monday 31st July 2000) in a plane crash. Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his next of kin to come over and claim his money because we cannot release it unless somebody applies for it as next of kin or relation to the deceased as indicated in our banking guidelines, but unfortunately we learnt that all his supposed next of kin or relation died along side with him at the plane crash leaving nobody behind for the claim. It is therefore upon this discovery that I and one official in my department now decided to make this business proposal to you and release the money to you as the next of kin or relation to the deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it and we don’t want this money to go into the bank treasury as unclaimed bill.

The Banking law and guideline here stipulates that if such money remained unclaimed after eight years, the money will be transferred into the Bank treasury as unclaimed fund. The request of foreigner as next of kin in this business is occasioned by the fact that the customer was a foreigner, and a Burkinabe cannot stand as next of kin to a foreigner. We agree that 30% of this money will be for you as foreign partner, in respect to the provision of a foreign account, 10% will be set aside for expenses incured during the business and 60% would be for me and my woman colleague. There after i will visit your country for disbursement according to the percentages indicated.

Therefore to enable the immediate transfer of this fund to you as arranged, you must apply first to the bank as relations or next of kin of the deceased indicating your bank name, your bank account number, your private telephone and fax number for easy and effective communication and location where the money will be remitted.Upon receipt of your reply, I will send to you by fax or email the text of the application I will not fail to bring to your notice that this transaction is hitch free and that you should not entertain any atom of fear as all required arrangements have been made for the transfer.

You should contact me on my cell phone number 00226-7885 75 97 immediately as soon as you receive this letter. Trusting to hear from you immediately.

Your’s faithfully,

Godwin Amiri.

FROM (ADB) OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA-FASO.
GOD BLESSINGS,PROTECTIONS AND GUIDIANCE TO YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY.

(FILL THIS FORM BELLOW PLEASE AND RESEND IT TO ME).

1) Your Full Name.............................
2) Your Age.......................................
3) Marital Status................................
4) Your Cell Phone Number…………..
5) Your Fax Number……………….....
6) Your Country………………..............
7) Your Occupation............................
8) Sex................................................
9) Your Religion.................................
10) Your Private E-mail Adress...........

POST SCRITUM:You have to keep everything secret as to enable the transfer to move very smoothly in to the account you will prove to the bank.As you finished reading this letter call me immediately so that we discuss very well over this business.

Your Verdict on Blair's Legacy

The people have spoken.
Posterity will judge Margaret Thatcher more favourably than Tony Blair.

I must admit, I wasn't sure what the result would be. I didn't think it would be as decisive as it was.
But it was a landslide.

Margaret Thatcher- 19 votes
Tony Blair- No votes

So, will that be the verdict of history?

Only time will tell, but you lot seem to have made your mind up.

Anyway, now the big issue of the day.
I'm not sure the pollsters are asking the general public the right question on who they want to lead the next goverment.

So I'm offering you a real choice.

Blogpower Awards and Other Polls

For those of you who don't yet know, the first annual bogpower awards are taking place this week.

It's just a bit of fun really, but it does allow some of those unsung heroes of the bloggosphere to be recognised.

Nominations for awards are not yet over, so go and have a look here to see what's going on, who's been nominated, etc.

I have already nominated. I am not going to share my nominations with you, but I feel the choices I made were deserved. What I do think would be good, would be if people actually took the chance to have a look at some of the blogs nominated, there are some good ones.

The only other poll to be concerned about at the moment is our site poll here. It will be closed late evening tonight, so if ANY of you think poor old Tony will be remembered more favourably than Thatcher, vote now or forever hold your peace, because he seems to be losing big time.

We are Pretty Shabby Now

There has been a fair bit of tongue-in-cheek nation bashing going on in the bloggosphere of late.
And it's all well meant.

I think as a global community, we don't put as much store by our national identitiies as we once did. We're less eager to die for King and Country, or the Star Spangled banner, than once we were.

Of course. We all know eachother a lot better.

At one time that sea crossing from Dover to Calais could well be fatal.
And that was the only connection we Brits had with our nearest neighbours.

But stereotypes only become stereotypes because there is something there to latch on to, something we know is true.

And, yes, we Brits do live in the past. A past where we still own the world.
And that's something I'd like to explain.

My mother is not British- she only got her British passport recently.

She said to me recently; The saddest thing about the way Britain is today, is looking at what the British once were.

True.

Americans come here expecting land of thatched cottages, stately homes and polite conversation.
They find a land of tower blocks, motorways and chavs.

And deep down, it must scare them.
It is barely a hundred years since this country was the ONLY superpower, towering above the rest of the world in a way that America doesn't even today.
And yet look how we have fallen.

The legacy of any empire is a mixed bag.
But only two Empires in history have shaped the world that followed to such a huge extent.

At the turn of the twentieth century, it was Admiralty policy that the British Navy exceed the second and third largest Navies in the world. And that was considered realistic.
Eight of the Ten richest men in the world, were British.
Three quarters of the world's iron goods were made here.
Two thirds of the world's firearms were made here.

London was the world's largest city.

Life Expectancy was the highest in the world.

Most of the greatest scientific discoveries over the previous hundred years had been made by Brits.

And the way Victorians felt about their country was arrogant, but true.

The statue of Boudicca on the Embankment carries the inscription 'Regions Caesar never knew thy posterity shall sway.'

Cecil Rhodes- a controversial figure, but certainly a man of vision, even if now we see some of that vision as warped stated 'To be born an Englishman is to win first prize in the lottery of life.'
And that was true, then, in terms of simply being born in England in those days gave you opportunities others did not have.

In the early nineteenth century, a schoolboy was asked by his teacher in exasperation; 'Do you not want to learn how countries are made?'
He replied. 'No. I'd rather make one of my own.'

In 1842, he carved a stretch of the North Borneo coast out for himself and became Rajah of Sarawak. His descendants reigned till the second world war, as the 'Great White Rajahs'

Of course, we can look back on all of this with unease. As we do. Often rightly.

But so much once came from these islands.
At one time this actually was a country which actually created enterprise, independence of thought and the courage to go out into the great wide world and do great things.

John Locke. William Shakespeare. John Stuart Mill. Adam Smith. James Cook. Ernest Shackleton. David Livingston...
Could go on for ever, couldn't I?

It isn't now.
And that's sad.

Moving on from those values and maturing as a society shouldn't have made us throw the baby out with the bath water.
But we have.
And now we are just a pretty shabby little country.