| Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22. | | | | The Book of Lu T’ang Chu | | By Arthur Davison Ficke |
| | | 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, | 5 |
| 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. | 10 |
| 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. | | | | |
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