
Is it true, as
Momus
suggests, that there are "few tales which would not be improved by the
addition of the phrase 'suddenly, a shot rang out'"? Decide for
yourself as we alter the opening lines of . . .
KUBLA KHAN by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree.
Suddenly, a shot rang out
Through caverns measureless to trout
Down to a sunless sea.