Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE LAND OF EXILE, by CH'U YUAN First Line: Methinks there's a genius Last Line: Cradle my sorrow. Alternate Author Name(s): Qu Ping; Qu Yuan Subject(s): Exiles | ||||||||
Methinks there's a genius Roams in the mountains, Girdled with ivy And robed in wisteria, Lips ever smiling, Of noble demeanour, Driving the yellow pard, Tiger-attended, Couched in a chariot With banners of cassia, Cloaked with the orchid, And crowned with azaleas; Culling the perfume Of sweet flowers, he leaves In the heart a dream-blossom, Memory haunting. But dark is the forest Where now is my dwelling, Never the light of day Reaches its shadow. Thither a perilous Pathway meanders. Lonely I stand On the lonelier hill-top, Cloudland beneath me And cloudland around me. Softly the wind bloweth, Softly the rain falls, Joy like a mist blots The thoughts of my home out; There none would honour me, Fallen from honours. I gather the larkspur Over the hillside, Blown mid the chaos Of boulder and bellbine; Hating the tyrant Who made me an outcast, Who of his leisure Now spares me no moment: Drinking the mountain spring, Shading at noon-day Under the cypress My limbs from the sun glare. What though he summon me Back to his palace, I cannot fall To the level of princes. Now rolls the thunder deep, Down the cloud valley, And the gibbons around me Howl in the long night. The gale through the moaning trees Fitfully rushes. Lonely and sleepless I think of my thankless Master, and vainly would Cradle my sorrow. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BOOK OF THE DEAD MAN (#58) by MARVIN BELL LITTLE CITIZEN, LITTLE SURVIVOR by HAYDEN CARRUTH GOING OUT FOR CIGARETTES by BILLY COLLINS HOMO WILL NOT INHERIT by MARK DOTY DEFLECTION TOWARD THE RELATIVE MINOR by FORREST GANDER ON A CERTAIN FIELD IN AUVERS by JOHN HAINES THE DESERTED GARDEN by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING |
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