Entombed Warriors
Entombed Warriors - meaning Summary
Imperial Fear Unmasked
The poem recounts Qin Shi Huang’s elaborate burial plan, in which artists created a vast terracotta army to secure his resurrection. For two thousand years the earth conceals this construction until casual excavation reveals the craft and intention behind it. The final lines read the discovery not as triumph but as exposure: the hidden army lays bare the emperor’s fear and insecurity rather than his power.
Read Complete AnalysesQin Shi Huang (first Emperor of China) Plotted his burial, With careful and clear detail. Called in his artists To prepare for his resurrection. Clay warriors and horses, A legion of foot soldiers, Cavalry, Archers and Generals. Swords, lances and spears, And battle axes in bronze, His artists made for him, And All guarded his secret For 2,000 years The Earth Mother Nursed her son, Until By chance, A pick and shovel, Revealed his secret. The earth opened up And exposed to the world, His fear, His insecurity.
Xian, September 20, 1984
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