BY TU FU

I

How delightful, at sunset, to loosen the boat!

A light wind is slow to raise waves.

Deep in the bamboo grove, the guests linger;

The lotus-flowers are pure and bright in the cool evening air.

The young nobles stir the ice-water;

The Beautiful Ones wash the lotus-roots, whose fibres are like silk threads.

A layer of clouds above our heads is black.

It will certainly rain, which impels me to write this poem.