Florence Ayscough and Amy Lowell, trans. The Emperor's Return from a Journey to the South. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22.

The Emperor’s Return from a Journey to the South

By Florence Ayscough and Amy Lowell, trans.


From “Chinese Written Wall Pictures” Wen Cheng-ming—Sixteenth Century LIKE a saint he comes,
The Most Noble.
In his lacquered state chariot
He awes the hundred living things.
He is clouded with the purple smoke of incense,	5
A round umbrella
Protects the Son of Heaven.
Exquisite is the beauty
Of the two-edged swords,
Of the chariots,	10
Of the star-embroidered shoes of the attendants.
The Sun and Moon fans are borne before him,
And he is preceded by sharp spears
And the blowing brightness of innumerable flags.
The spring wind proclaims the Emperor’s return,	15
Binding the ten thousand districts together
In a chorded harmony of Peace and Satisfaction,
So that the white-haired old men and the multitudes rejoice,
And I also wish to add the tribute of my secret writings.