敕勒 chi4 le4: an ancient nationality in the Chinese North

    敕勒川，阴山下，
    天似穹庐，笼盖四野。
    天苍苍，野茫茫，
    风吹草低见牛羊。

Imperial orders: force the ford, overcast mountains,

the vault of heaven like a yurt, a cage covering the four corners of the earth.

The sky is grey, the fields vast

The wind blows on the grass gazing cattle and sheep 

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敕勒  is also a modern transliteration for the country Chile. Rather than allude to that country or China's nationalities I wanted to retain the idea expressed in Whitman's "Cavalry Crossing a Ford". To me, this poem describes a military expedition, whether an invasion, retaliation, or defense. Chinese is at times an enigmatic language. I also wished to keep the idea of the imperial system compelling and compelled to cold and grey war after war. Might be nice to avoid all that.