Chapter Xanadu to Xury of X by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Xanadu to Xury

Xanadu, a city mentioned by Coleridge in his Kubla Khan. The idea of this poem is borrowed from the Pilgrimage by Purchas (1613), where Xanadu is called “Xaindu.” It is said to have occurred to Coleridge in a dream, but the dream was that of memory only.

Xanthos, the horse of Achillês. He spoke with a human voice, like Balaam’s ass, Adrastos’s horse (Arion), Fortunio’s horse (Comrade), Mahomet’s “horse” (Al Borak), Sâleh’s camel, the dog of the seven sleepers (Katmîr), the black pigeons of Dodona and Ammon, the king of serpents (Temliha), the serpent which was cursed for tempting Eve, the talking bird called bulbul-hezar, the little green bird of princess Fairstar, the White Cat, cum quibusdam aliis.

The mournful Xanthus (says the bard of old)
Of Peleus’ warlike son the fortune told.
   —Peter Pindar [Dr. Wolcot]: The Lousiad, v. (1809).

Xantippê , wife of Socratês; proverbial for a scolding, nagging, peevish wife. One day, after storming at the philosopher, she emptied a vessel of dirty water on his head, whereupon Socratês simply remarked, “Ay, ay, we always look for rain after thunder.”

Xantippê , daughter of Cimonos. She preserved the life of her old father in prison by suckling him. The guard marvelled that the old man held out so long, and, watching for the solution, discovered the fact.

Euphrasia, daughter of Evander, preserved her aged father while in prison in a similar manner. (See Grecian Daughter, p. 446.)

Xavier de Belsunce (H. Francois), immortalized by his self-devotion in administering to the plague- stricken at Marseilles (1720–22).

Other similar examples are Charles Borromeo, cardinal and archbishop of Milan (1538–1584). St. Roche, who died in 1327 from the plague caught by him in his indefatigable labours in ministering to the plague- stricken at Piacenza. Mompesson was equally devoted to the people of Eyam. Our own sir John Lawrence, lord mayor of London, is less known, but ought to be held in equal honour, for supporting 40,000 dismissed servants in the great plague.

Xenocrates , a Greek philosopher. The courtezan Laïs made a heavy bet that she would allure him from his “prudery;” but after she had tried all her arts on him without success, she exclaimed, ‘I thought he had been a living man, and not a mere stone.”

Do you think I am Xenocrates, or like the sultan with marble legs? There you leave me tête-à-tête with Mrs. Haller, as if my heart were a mere flint.—Benjamin Thompson: The Stranger, iv. 2 (1797).

Xerxes denounced (See Plutarch, Life of Themistoclês, article “Sea-Fights of Artemisium and Salamis.”)

Minerva on the bounding prow
Of Athens stood, and with the thunder’s voice
Denounced her terrors on their impious heads [the Persians],
And shook her burning ægis. Xerxes saw,
From Heracleum on the mountain’s height.
Throned in her golden car; he knew the sign
Celestial, felt unrighteous hope forsake
His faltering heart, and turned his face with shame.
   —Akenside Hymn to the Naiads (1767).

Ximena, daughter of count de Gormez. The count was slain by the Cid for insulting his father. Four times Ximena demanded vengeance of the king; but the king, perceiving that the Cid was in love with her, delayed vengeance, and ultimately she married him.

Xit, the royal dwarf of Edward VI.

Xury, a Moresco boy, servant to Robinson Crusoe.—Defoe: Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1719).