Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, CHINESE CEMETARY AT VICTORIA, by GLENN HUGHES


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CHINESE CEMETARY AT VICTORIA, by                    
First Line: Alien as well as desolate, this place
Last Line: As pale as incense by a temple door.
Subject(s): Cemeteries; China; Graveyards


Alien as well as desolate, this place
Troubles the heart of one with eyes to see,
And gives a false, poetic misery
To those who rest within the barren space
Beneath close rows of white head-boards that face
The sea and China. Have their spirits free
Leaped the wide barrier in their ecstasy,
To dwell among the living of their race?

If not, there is a recompense: bright broom
Covers the cliffs with yellow of Peking:
Translucent jade forever laps the shore,
And golden-flowered silks drop from the loom
Of night; at dawn blue mists hang shimmering,
As pale as incense by a temple door.





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