Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FROM A VISION, by TS'AO CHIH


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FROM A VISION, by                    
First Line: In the nine provinces there is not room enough
Last Line: My span is extended to the enjoyment of life everlasting.
Alternate Author Name(s): Tzu-chien
Subject(s): China - Middle Ages (600 B.c.- 618 A.d.); Life


IN the Nine Provinces there is not room enough:
I want to soar high among the clouds,
And, far beyond the Eight Limits of the compass,
Cast my gaze across the unmeasured void.
I will wear as my gown the red mists of sunrise,
And as my skirt the white fringes of the clouds:
My canopy -- the dim lustre of Space:
My chariot -- six dragons mounting heavenward:
And before the light of Time has shifted a pace
Suddenly stand upon the World's blue rim.
The doors of Heaven swing open,
The double gates shine with a red light.
I roam and linger in the palace of Wen-ch'ang,
I climb up to the hall of T'ai-wei.
The Lord God lies at his western lattice:
And the lesser Spirits are together in the eastern gallery.
They wash me in a bath of rainbow-spray
And gird me with a belt of jasper and rubies.
I wander at my ease gathering divine herbs:
I bend down and touch the scented flowers.
Wang-tzu gives me drugs of long-life
And Hsien-men hands me strange potions.
By the partaking of food I evade the rites of Death:
My span is extended to the enjoyment of life everlasting.





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