“Confucius appeared, according to Mencius, one of his most distinguished followers, at a crisis in the nation’s history. ‘The world,’ he says, ‘had fallen into decay, and right principles had disappeared. Perverse discourses and oppressive deeds were waxen rife. Ministers murdered their rulers, and sons their fathers. Confucius was frightened by what he saw,--and he undertook the work of reformation.’ “He was a native of the state of Lu, a part of the modern Shantung.... Lu had a great name among the other states of Chow ... etc.” Rev. James Legge, Professor of Chinese, University of Oxford. SHANTUNG, OR THE EMPIRE OF CHINA IS CRUMBLING DOWN _Dedicated to William Rose Benét_ I _Now let the generations pass-- Like sand through Heaven’s blue hour-glass._ In old Shantung, By the capital where poetry began, Near the only printing presses known to man, Young Confucius walks the shore On a sorrowful day. The town, all books, is tumbling down Through the blue bay. The book-worms writhe From rusty musty walls. They drown themselves like rabbits in the sea. _Venomous foreigners harry mandarins_ With pitchfork, blunderbuss and snickersnee. In the book-slums there is thunder; Gunpowder, that sad wonder, Intoxicates the knights and beggar-men. The old grotesques of war begin again: Rebels, devils, fairies, are set free. So ... Confucius hears a carol and a hum: A picture sea-child whirs from off his fan In one quick breath of peach-bloom fantasy, Then, in an instant bows the reverent knee-- A full-grown sweetheart, chanting his renown. And then she darts into the Yellow Sea, Calling, calling: “Sage with holy brow, Say farewell to China now; Live like the swine, Leave off your scholar-gown! This city of books is falling, falling, The Empire of China is crumbling down.” II _Confucius, Confucius, how great was Confucius-- The sage of Shantung, and the master of Mencius?_ Alexander fights the East. Just as the Indus turns him back He hears of tempting lands beyond, With sword-swept cities on the rack With crowns outshining India’s crown: The Empire of China, crumbling down. Later the Roman sibyls say: “Egypt, Persia and Macedon, Tyre and Carthage, passed away; And the Empire of China is crumbling down. Rome will never crumble down.” III _See how the generations pass-- Like sand through Heaven’s blue hour-glass._ Arthur waits on the British shore One thankful day, For Galahad sails back at last To Camelot Bay. The _pure_ knight lands and tells the tale: “Far in the east A sea-girl led us to a king, The king to a feast, In a land where poppies bloom for miles, Where books are made like bricks and tiles. I taught that king to love your name-- Brother and Christian he became. “His Town of Thunder-Powder keeps A giant hound that never sleeps, A crocodile that sits and weeps.