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...MADRIGAL by WILLIAM DRUMMOND OF HAWTHORNDEN EXTRACTS FROM AN OPERA: 2. DAISY'S SONG by JOHN KEATS THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 53. WITHOUT HER by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI WILL (1) by ELLA WHEELER WILCOX A FAERY SONG, SUNG BY THE PEOPLE OF FAERY OVER DIARMUID by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS TO AN ISLE IN THE WATER by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS SHRODON FEAR: THE VU'ST PEART by WILLIAM BARNES |