The Convent of Siang-Fu
LIU CHI
A.D. 1311-1375
The most celebrated of the poets belonging to the Mongol period, Liu Chi was also one of the foremost adherents of the rising dynasty of Ming, and eventually became Censor and Under-Secretary of State to the first Ming Emperor. The jealousy of rivals, however, pursued him, and in the end he was poisoned by his rival the Prime Minister, Hu Wei-yung. There is little depth in the poems of Liu Chi, but much charm and considerable feeling for natural beauty. A contemporary critic has described his poems as "wind-blown petals."
THE CONVENT OF SIANG-FU
So I sprang to horse at cockcrow all a fever to depart,
Galloped, galloped to the convent, ere the calling bells were still,
Over dimpled lawns a zephyr woke the lily's jewelled heart,
And the moon's faint crescent faltered down the cleft of wooded hill.
Oh the lonely little convent with its secret haunts of prayer!
With its shadowed cells for dreaming, where eternities abide.
Down the cedar-scented alley not a footfall stirred the air,
But the monks' low droning echoed in the green gloom far and wide.