in spite of—
Rose a fresh Fountain, and with many a rill
Waterd the Garden; thence united fell
Down the steep glade, and met the neather Flood . . .
in spite of—
Rowling on Orient Pearl and sands of Gold
With mazie error under pendant shades
Ran Nectar . . .
in spite of—
Meanwhile murmuring waters fall
Down the slope hills, disperst . . .
his doubts may still linger until he reaches
Nor where Abassin Kings thir issue Guard,
Mount Amara.
and one of the most cryptic points in Coleridge’s poem, the Abyssinian maid, singing of Mount Abora, finds its simple explanation. The closing line of the poem perhaps hardly needs this kind of derivation.
From one source or another almost all the matter of Kubla Khan came to Coleridge in a similar fashion. I do not know whether this particular indebtedness has been remarked before, but Purchas his Pilgrimage, Bartram’s Travels in North and South Carolina, and Maurice’s History of Hindostan are well-known sources, some of them indicated by Coleridge himself.