History & Politics

An Oath

by Ch’ēn T’ao 9th–10th century AD

Translated by Herbert A. Giles (1898) · From Chinese Poetry in English Verse (1898)

History & Politics

They swore the Huns should perish: they would die if needs they must
And now five thousand, sable-clad, have bit the Tartar dust.
Along the river-bank their bones lie scattered where they may,
But still their forms in dreams arise to fair ones far away.

MLA

T’ao, Ch’ēn. “An Oath.” Translated by Herbert A. Giles. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/chen-tao/0/.

Chicago

T’ao, Ch’ēn. “An Oath.” Translated by Herbert A. Giles. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/chen-tao/0/.

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