Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

COCK-CROW SONG by ANONYMOUS

First Line: "IN THE EASTERN QUARTER DAWN BREAKS, THE STARS FLICKER PALE"
Last Line: "ROUND THE PALACE AND UP BY THE CASTLE, THE CROWS AND MAGPIES ARE FLYING"
Subject(s): CHINA - EARLY PERIOD (TO 200 B.C.);
IN the eastern quarter dawn breaks, the stars flicker pale.
The morning cock at Ju-nan mounts the wall and crows.
The songs are over, the clock run down, but still the feast is set.
The moon grows dim and the stars are few; morning has come to the world.
At a thousand gates and ten thousand doors the fish-shaped keys turn;
Round the Palace and up by the Castle, the crows and magpies are flying.



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