The ConcubineA Poem by David Lewis PagetChen
Xiao Fei while the sun does shine Was
taken as the Emperor’s concubine, Just
one of a hundred from the village Yang Ping And
chosen by the placing of a bright gold ring. The
Emperor’s minions took her by the hand And
led her far away from the life she’d planned, Her
tears flew wide as she said zy jian To
the Ma ma, signing her away with a pen. She
said farewell to her friends from the school Then
they bathed her well in a rose-petalled pool, They
dressed her in the silks of a young girl’s dream And
gave her to the Emperor, at just fourteen. She
lodged with the other of his concubines Who
taught her the rules she must follow all times She
never must climb in the top of his bed But
crawl beneath the sheet from his feet to his head. She
was told of the colours that she must not wear And
she came and she went, but by a side door She
was low in the rank of his concubines And
waited on him calling her, the very first time. But
once he had ravaged her virginity She
was told to leave his bed, but immediately, For
all of his consorts waited in a line For
the glory of a moment as his concubine. They
were guarded by the eunuchs of the Emperor’s court Who
dallied with the concubines, until they were caught, Then
their heads were toppled by a sharp steel blade And
buried in the field where their sisters were laid. But
the news came down, and the news was bleak That
the Emperor was dead, had died in his sleep And
the Empress ordered that Chen Xiao Fei Would
be buried standing up, in the Emperor’s grave. She
begged and she pleaded with the Emperor’s wife But
consorts were needed in the afterlife, She
could choose to be drowned in the well by the park, Or
hang herself there, with a bright silk scarf. She
picked out a scarf to be hung, Xiao Fei Along
with the others, at dawn the next day, And
they all were buried by the eunuch guard In
a line, in a field by the Palace’s yard. And
now as you pass by a field, weed-grown There’s
barely a glimpse of a weather-worn stone, All
that is left of the girl sent away For
the lust of an Emperor, Chen Xiao Fei. David
Lewis Paget (Glossary: Chen
Xiao Fei - Chen Shao (ao as in ouch) Fay Zy
jian - zie jen (Goodbye) Ma
ma - Mar mar - (Mother)) © 2012 David Lewis PagetFeatured Review
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