Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BOOK OF LU T'ANG CHU, by ARTHUR DAVISON FICKE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BOOK OF LU T'ANG CHU, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In the reign of the great emperor lu
Last Line: To celebrate our good and glorious reigns.
Alternate Author Name(s): Knish, Anne
Subject(s): Books; Reading


In the reign of the great Emperor Lu T'ang Chu
Wise men were ordered to inscribe in a book
All the great body of wisdom that men knew.
Today I turn the pages, and as I look
I cannot see anything very new or old,
And I wonder why it was worth the trouble, then,
Of days and nights and a thousand labors untold
Which the volume must have exacted from those wise men.
But still we write -- and the Emperor now is blown
As grey dust over the limitless Asian plains.
Still we inscribe all that is humanly known,
Although no ruler honors us for our pains --
Recording a thousand wisdoms, all our own,
To celebrate our good and glorious reigns.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net