Once more I'll raise the curtain,
And show my lamp's pale light;
My love may miss the pathway,
And wander in the night.
How lofty are the heavens!
How vast the heaving sea!
Ah, life is sad and dreary
When love comes not to me!
But though my heart is weary,
I trust my lover's vow;
The south wind knows my longings
And will bear them to Si-chow.
And though the seas divide us
Our hearts are one for ay,
And in sweet dreams will mingle
Until the meeting day.
A Song of the Marches
BY LI TAI-PEH
T'ang Dynasty
The Tien-shan peaks still glisten
In robes of spotless white;
To songs of Spring I listen,
But see no flowers around.
The ground is bare and dreary,
No voice of Spring I hear,
Save the 'Willow Song',[2] so eerie,
I play upon my flute.