Remembered chiefly as the father and grandfather of the last rulers of Imperial China, Yihuan (1840-1891) was a gifted and prolific poet whose work represents the last glowing embers of the Confucian school. Working from the original Chinese, poet Vera Schwarcz captures the spirit and humanity of a philosopher-statesman cast aside by the landslide of history. In these wonderful poems by the last patriarch of the Qing Dynasty, Ms. Schwarcz probes with her own poetic artistry the consolation of memory, forging a profound link between old and new, east and west, history and poetry. Though her selection comprises but a small part of Yihuan’s considerable output, there is a greatness here that merits serious attention. Thus we are honored to premiere the poet Yihuan in this, the first representative translation of his work in any western language!