From Wu Ti
The autumn winds are cold.
Chrysanthemums and asters
bloom by the garden wall.
An arrowhead of geese
pierces the gray clouds.
I cast my black fly
in the spray-white creek.
The water drums a roll
on rounded brown rocks.
The wind tattoos a snare
on scarlet maple leaves.
I long to dance with the leaves.
I want to waltz with the waters.
Sorrow slows my feet.
My legs have withered.
My feet stumble on pebbles.
The autumn winds are cold.
Chrysanthemums and asters
bloom by the garden wall.
An arrowhead of geese
pierces the gray clouds.
I cast my black fly
in the spray-white creek.
The water drums a roll
on rounded brown rocks.
The wind tattoos a snare
on scarlet maple leaves.
I long to dance with the leaves.
I want to waltz with the waters.
Sorrow slows my feet.
My legs have withered.
My feet stumble on pebbles.
The character "ti" means “emperor; “wu”means "martial" or "warlike." Liu Che (known posthumously as Wu Ti) was the 7th emperor of the Han dynasty of China, ruling from 141–87 BCE.During his long reign he greatly expanded his country’s borders to Kyrgyzstan in the west, Korea in the east, and northern Vietnam in the south, developed a strong, centralized state, promoted both Confucianism and Legalism, introduced new crops, and organized the imperial Music Bureau into a prestigious part of the official bureaucratic apparatus. Out of his 12 prime ministers he executed 3 of them (and another in retirement) and forced 2 more to commit suicide, he also forced his last queen to kill herself. In addition to being a noted poet himself, early in his reign he facilitated a revival of interest in “Chu ci,” the style of poetry from the former Chu kingdom that was particularly linked to shamanism, and later promoted more innovative forms of poetry, especially the “fu” style which applied new metrical rhythms to the lines of poetry mixed with lines of prose. Unlike “Chu ci,” which was sung, “fu’ was meant to be recited or chanted.
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