Page:Anthology of Magazine Verse (1921).djvu/58
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
THE BOOK OF LU T'ANG CHU
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.
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.
Poetry, A Magazine of VerseArthur Davison Ficke
PRELUDE
He speaks
Open your eyes.
I have never seen them.
Open your eyes.
I have never seen them.
She answers
I am afraid to open my eyes. . . .
Be content to look upon my hands,
I am afraid to open my eyes. . . .
Be content to look upon my hands,
He speaks
Your hands are moist and gentle,
Your hands are long and slow
And smooth as apples.
Your hands are restful and far distant
As nude hills beyond hot plains.
Your hands are tender as young clover leaves.
Your hands are moist and gentle,
Your hands are long and slow
And smooth as apples.
Your hands are restful and far distant
As nude hills beyond hot plains.
Your hands are tender as young clover leaves.
43