Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO A CHINESE GONG, by WINONA MONTGOMERY GILLILAND


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO A CHINESE GONG, by                    
First Line: Great shining disc of burnished brass
Last Line: "to summon ""foreign devils"" to their dinner."
Subject(s): China


Great shining disc of burnished brass, you hold
The soul of China in your gleaming heart!
Perhaps a sorcerer with magic art,
Long years ago before the world was old,
Imprisoned in you one who, grown too bold,
Defied the gods and, haughty, stood apart
With unbowed head, when through the crowded mart
The deities were borne, in chairs of gold.
I strike you with the gong-stick, and you roar
Defiance at the humbling that old spinner,
Fate, has devised for you; but never-more
Shall the celestial sun -- Oh brazen sinner! --
Shine down on you. Your punishment is sore;
To summon "foreign devils" to their dinner.





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