Cunningly fashioned by an artist's hand,
My frail, light stem of delicate bamboo,
Upholds a spray of dazzling plumes, whose hue
Is rivaled by no bird on Yeddo's strand!

Upon my sandal ribs, when I expand,
The daintiest arabesques enchant the view!
Ruby pagodas, mandarins robed in blue,
Intricate curves and virgin faces bland.

My beauty made to serve and to delight
Some splendid Taicoon's grand imperial ease,
When Occidental winds blow fierce and hot,
Is doomed, alas, to fan, night after night,
In some dark, dismal town beyond the seas,
The rough and musky cheeks of a cocotte!

Cunningly fashioned by an artist's hand,
My frail, light stem of delicate bamboo
Upholds a spray of dazzling plumes, whose hue
Is rivaled by no bird on Yeddo's strand!

Upon my sandal ribs, when I expand,
The daintiest arabesques enchant the view!
Ruby pagodas, mandarins robed in blue,
Intricate curves and virgin faces bland.

My beauty made to serve and to delight
Some splendid Taicoon's grand imperial ease,
When Occidental winds blow fierce and hot,
Is doomed, alas, to fan, night after night,
In some dark, dismal town beyond the seas,
The rough and musky cheeks of a cocotte!