SUNG TO THE AIR: "LOOKING SOUTH OVER THE RIVER AND DREAMING"

BY WÊN T'ING-YÜN

The hair is combed,

The face is washed,

All is done.

Alone, in the upper story of my Summer-house, I bend forward, looking at the river.

A thousand sails pass—but among all of them the one is not.

The slant sunlight will not speak,

It will not speak.

The long-stretched water scarcely moves.

My bowels are broken within me.

Oh! Island of the White Water Flowers!