e a m harris

Found poem – The Grandeur of Imperial China

I’ve been reading The Art of The Chinese Gardens published by China Travel & Tourism. It’s a beautiful book with photos and descriptions of some of the most important gardens in China.

Chinese gardens contain many named features – pavilions, rocks, viewpoints, hills, studios, temples and others – the Chinese seem to have a talent for inventing evocative and beautiful names. There are scores here.

Such titles lend themselves to found poems, and I’ve gleaned several from this book. I believe that for true found poetry I should have only used the findings, but I can’t help adding and, in this poem, the short connectors are mine.

The Grandeur of Imperial China

On
The Hill of Accumulated Elegance
Beneath
The Imperial Vault of Heaven
Sits
The Palace of Nostalgia
This is
The Mansion of the Prince
The Mansion of the Prince of Gong

In
The Circular Grace Mountain Villa
House of Year Round Delight
Are
The Wafting Fragrance Chamber
The Ten Thousand Volume Hall
And
Lady Young’s Pool

From
The Throne for Viewing the Waterworks
In the
Mansion of the Sacred Lord of Yan
He sees
An Ancient Theatre
The Grand Theatre of the Garden of Harmonious Virtue
And
The Tower of Heavenly Emperors

Across
The Five-Pagoda Bridge
Between
The Park of the Grand View Pavilion
And
Shuanqing Villa
We reach
The Villa of Secluded Beauty
The Emerald Grace Garden
The Hall of Happiness and Longevity