Blake’s warning to China’s leaders
If William Blake were of this age and not that of two centuries past, I suggest he would have warned Beijing against the folly of global bullying and the pursuit of empire:
Stiff shudderings shook the heav’nly thrones! Qing, Ming, & Yuan,
In terror view’d the bands of Zhongnanhai, and the ancient Guardians
Fainting upon the elements, smitten with their own plagues
They slow advance to shut the five gates of their law-built heaven
Filled with blasting fancies and with mildews of despair
With fierce disease and lust, unable to stem the fires of Orc;
But the five gates were consum’d, & their bolts and hinges melted
And the fierce flames burnt round the heavens, & round the abodes of men
Adapted, of course, from Blake’s America: A Prophecy.
Update
Looks like the mention of Beijing and Empire in the same sentence upset a few people.