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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:

Samuel Taylor Coleridge#79

NatureMysteryPowerSupernaturalWilderness

About this quote

What does it mean?
A deep chasm on a hill is described as both savage and holy, haunted by a woman and a demon-lover. A fountain bursts forth with immense force.
In plain terms
A wild, haunted place on a hill spews a powerful water fountain.
What can you take from it?
Dangerous places can also hold spiritual power.

Where it applies

  • exploring wilderness
  • describing storms
  • myth building

Putting it to work

  • writing dramatic scenes
  • visualizing landscapes
  • creating atmosphere

Questions to consider

  • Where do you feel wild power?
  • How is danger holy?

Another view

The supernatural elements are not grounded in reality.

More from Samuel Taylor Coleridge

  1. 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 incen…

    Permalink to quote #78
  2. Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail, Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail : And 'mid these dancing rock…

    Permalink to quote #80
  3. 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.

    Permalink to quote #77

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