Flashing light, this ancient mirror,
twin dragons writhe thereon.
Tradition says it once belonged
to the palace at Hsien-yang.
This bright moon of Ch'in times
still survives today:
scrape away the muddy sand —
its luster shines again.
In those years, when Ch'in engulfed
all six of China's states,
to inner palace were consigned a thousand lovely eyes!
Gecko-juice smeared on their limbs,
inner organs mirrored:
yet through his reign of thirty-six years
the emperor knew them not.

From a determinable horizon
absent
spectacularly from a midnight
which has yet to make public
a midnight
in the first place incompatibly copied
the other
in observance of the necessary end
guarantees
the simultaneous insularity
of a structure
self-contained
a little longer
than the general direction
of goods opposed
tangentically.

Five little sisters walking in a row;
Now, isn't that the best way for little girls to go?
Each had a round hat, each had a muff,
And each had a new pelisse of soft green stuff.

Five little marigolds standing in a row;
Now, isn't that the best way for marigolds to grow?
Each with a green stalk, and all the five had got
A bright yellow flower and a new red pot.

Five little monkeys
Swinging from a tree;
Teasing Uncle Crocodile,
Merry as can be.
Swinging high, swinging low,
Swinging left and right:
" Dear Uncle Crocodile,
Come and take a bite! "

Five little monkeys
Swinging in the air;
Heads up, tails up,
Little do they care.
Swinging up, swinging down,
Swinging far and near:
" Poor Uncle Crocodile,
Aren't you hungry, dear? "

Four little monkeys
Sitting in a tree;
Heads down, tails down,
Dreary as can be.
Weeping loud, weeping low,

Five Hours, (and who can do it less in?)
By haughty Celia spent in Dressing;
The Goddess from her Chamber issues,
Array'd in Lace, Brocades and Tissues.
Strephon, who found the Room was void,
And Betty otherwise employ'd;
Stole in, and took a strict Survey,
Of all the Litter as it lay;
Whereof, to make the Matter clear,
An Inventory follows here.

And first a dirty Smock appear'd,
Beneath the Arm-pits well besmear'd.
Strephon, the Rogue, display'd it wide,
And turn'd it round on every Side.
On such a Point few Words are best,

Five fearless knights of the first renown
In Elizabeth's great array,
From Plymouth in Devon sailed up and down —
American sailors they;
Who went to the West,
For they all knew best
Where the silver was grey
As a moonlit night,

Five dollars a day is a white man's pay, way —
Five dollars a day is a white man's pay.
My dollar and a half a day.

But a dollar and a half is a black man's pay, way —
But a dollar and a half is a black man's pay,
My dollar and a half a day.

The black man works both day and night, way —
The black man works both day and night,
My dollar and a half a day.

But the white man he works but a day, way —
But the white man he works but a day,
My dollar and a half a day.

“Five cents a glass!” Does anyone think
That this is really the price of a drink?
“Five cents a glass,” I hear you say,
“Why, that isn't very much to pay.”
Ah, no, indeed; 'tis a very small sum
You are passing over with finger and thumb;
And if that were all that you gave away
It wouldn't be very much to pay.

The price of a drink! Let him decide
Who has lost his courage and lost his pride,
And lies a groveling heap of clay
Not far removed from a beast today.

The price of a drink! Let that one tell

Five bolts of hanging silk,
jade dragons on the run!
The Seventy-Two Mountains
were carved by a demon's chisel.
I've fallen into the water, fallen off my donkey,
and I don't care at all:
people have always risked their lives
for a single taste of blowfish!

The swan existing
Is like a song with an accompaniment
Imaginary.

Across the glassy lake,
Across the lake to the shadow of the willows,
It is accompanied by an image —
As by Debussy's
" Reflets dans l'eau. "

The swan that is
Reflects
Upon the solitary water — breast to breast
With the duplicity:
" The other one! "

And breast to breast it is confused.
O visionary wedding! O stateliness of the procession!
It is accompanied by the image of itself
Alone.

At night
The lake is a wide silence,