The Imperial City
Water , under white bridges, lilied water, under the marble. Still; with the heavens in it. . . . A bird's warble.
Green limbs drifting. . . . A stork out of the shallows, under the arches, suddenly lifting.
Over the roofs blue-tiled, where I am wending, over she soars. … A mandarin by me talks of Emperors.
Steps up to a shrine, under a pine. . . . Strange heaven-beasts guarding it, dogs divine.
I slip a little by one … there is a stain. ‘The blood of China,’ I think, ‘the blood of China!’ and sicken with pain.
I turn: the beauty is gone; tyranny left. . . . I have been feeding my senses where starved millions were bereft.
But I remember, a new banner now waves.… No more is this a changeless land of Emperors and slaves.
Green limbs drifting. . . . A stork out of the shallows, under the arches, suddenly lifting.
Over the roofs blue-tiled, where I am wending, over she soars. … A mandarin by me talks of Emperors.
Steps up to a shrine, under a pine. . . . Strange heaven-beasts guarding it, dogs divine.
I slip a little by one … there is a stain. ‘The blood of China,’ I think, ‘the blood of China!’ and sicken with pain.
I turn: the beauty is gone; tyranny left. . . . I have been feeding my senses where starved millions were bereft.
But I remember, a new banner now waves.… No more is this a changeless land of Emperors and slaves.
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