Our plan of procedure was as follows: Mrs. Ayscough would first write out the poem in Chinese. Not in the Chinese characters, of course, but in transliteration. Opposite every word she put the various meanings of it which accorded with its place in the text, since I could not use a Chinese dictionary. She also gave the analyses of whatever characters seemed to her to require it. The lines were carefully indicated, and to these lines I have, as a rule, strictly adhered; the lines of the translations usually corresponding, therefore, with the lines of the originals. In the few poems in which the ordering of the lines has been changed, this has been done solely in the interest of cadence.

I had, in fact, four different means of approach to a poem. The Chinese text, for rhyme-scheme and rhythm; the dictionary meanings of the words; the analyses of characters; and, for the fourth, a careful paraphrase by Mrs. Ayscough, to which she added copious notes to acquaint me with all the allusions, historical, mythological, geographical, and technical, that she deemed it necessary for me to know. Having done what I could with these materials, I sent the result to her, when she and her Chinese teacher carefully compared it with the original, and it was returned to me, either passed or commented upon, as the case might be. Some poems crossed continent and ocean many times in their course toward completion; others, more fortunate, satisfied at once. On Mrs. Ayscough's return to America this year, all the poems were submitted to a farther meticulous scrutiny, and I can only say that they are as near the originals as we could make them, and I hope they may give one quarter of the pleasure to our readers that they have to us in preparing them.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION[xix]
LI T'AI-PO. (A.D. 701-762)
Songs of the Marches[1]
Battle to the South of the City[5]
The Perils of the Shu Road[6]
Looking at the Moon After Rain[9]
The Lonely Wife[10]
The Pleasures Within the Palace[12]
The Young Girls of Yüeh[13]
Written in the Character of a Beautiful Woman[14]
Songs to the Peonies[16]
Spring Grief and Resentment[18]
The Palace Woman and the Dragon Robes[19]
The Nanking Wine-Shop[20]
Fêng Huang T'ai[21]
The Northern Flight[22]
Fighting to the South of the City[24]
The Crosswise River[26]
On Hearing the Buddhist Priest Play his Table-Lute[27]
Ch'ang Kan[28]
Sorrow During a Clear Autumn[30]
Poignant Grief During a Sunny Spring[32]
Two Poems Written to Ts'ui (the Official)[34]
Sent as a Parting Gift to the Second Official[35]
The Song of the White Clouds[36]
Wind-Bound at the New Forest Reach[37]
At the Ancestral Shrine of King Yao[38]
Drinking Alone in the Moonlight. I[39]
Drinking Alone in the Moonlight. II[40]
Statement of Resolutions After Being Drunk[41]
River Chant[42]
Separated by Imperial Summons[44]
A Woman Sings[46]
The Palace Woman and the Soldiers' Cook[47]
The Sorrel Horse[48]
A Beautiful Woman Encountered on a Field-Path[49]
Saying Good-Bye to a Friend[50]
Descending the Extreme South Mountain[51]
The Terraced Road[52]
Hearing a Bamboo Flute in the City of Lo Yang[54]
The Retreat of Hsieh Kung[55]
A Traveller Comes to the Old Terrace of Su[56]
The Rest-House on the Clear Wan River[57]
Drinking Song[58]
Answer to an Affectionate Invitation[60]
Parrot Island[61]
The Honourable Lady Chao[62]
Thinking of the Frontier[63]
A Song of Resentment[64]
Picking Willow[66]
Autumn River Song[67]
Visiting the Taoist Priest[68]
Reply to an Unrefined Person[69]
Reciting Verses by Moonlight[70]
Passing the Night at the White Heron Island[71]
Ascending the Three Chasms[72]
Parting from Yang, a Hill Man[73]
Night Thoughts[74]
The Serpent Mound[75]
Old Tai's Wine-Shop[76]
Drinking in the T'ao Pavilion[77]
Song for the Hour When the Crows Roost[78]
Poem Sent to the Official Wang[79]
Drinking Alone on the Rock in the River[80]
A Farewell Banquet[81]
Taking Leave of Tu Fu[82]
The Moon Over the Mountain Pass[83]
The Taking-Up of Arms[84]
A Song of the Rest-House of Deep Trouble[85]
The "Looking-For-Husband" Rock[86]
After Being Separated for a Long Time[87]
Bitter Jealousy in the Palace of the High Gate[88]
Eternally Thinking of Each Other[89]
Passionate Grief[91]
Sung to the Air: "The Mantzŭ like an Idol"[92]
At the Yellow Crane Tower.[93]
In Deep Thought, Gazing at the Moon[94]
Thoughts from a Thousand Li[95]
Word-Pattern [96]
The Heaven's Gate Mountains[97]
On Hearing that Wang Ch'ang-ling Had Been Exiled[98]
Parting Gift to Wang Lun[99]
Saying Good-Bye to a Friend Going to the Plum-Flower Lake[100]
A Poem Sent to Tu Fu[101]
Bidding Good-Bye to Yin Shu[102]
TU FU. (A.D. 712-770)
A Visit to the Fêng Hsien Temple[103]
The Thatched House Unroofed by an Autumn Gale[104]
The River Village[106]
The Excursion[107]
The Recruiting Officers[109]
Crossing the Frontier. I[111]
Crossing the Frontier. II[112]
The Sorceress Gorge[113]
Thinking of Li Po on a Spring Day[114]
At the Edge of Heaven[115]
Sent to Li Po as a Gift[116]
A Toast for Mêng Yün-ch'ing[117]
Moon Night[118]
PO CHÜ-I (A.D. 772-846)
Hearing the Early Oriole[119]
LIU YÜ-HSI (Circa A.D. 844)
The City of Stones[120]
NIU HSI-CHI. (Circa A.D. 733)
Sung to the Tune of "The Unripe Hawthorn Berry"[121]
WANG WEI. (A.D. 699-759)
After an Imperial Audience[122]
The Blue-Green Stream[123]
Farm House on the Wei Stream[124]
CH'IU WEI. (Circa A.D. 700)
Seeking for the Hermit of the West Hill[125]
CHI WU-CH'IEN. (Circa A.D. 733)
Floating on the Pool of Jo Ya[126]
MÊNG CHIAO. (Circa A.D. 790)
Sung to the Air: "The Wanderer"[127]
WEI YING-WU. (Circa A.D. 850)
Farewell Words to the Daughter of Yang[128]
WÊN T'ING-YÜN. (Circa A.D. 850)
Sung to the Air: "Looking South"[130]
DESCENDANT OF FOUNDER SOUTHERN T'ANG DYNASTY. (Circa A.D. 960)
Together We Know Happiness[131]
T'AO YÜAN-MING. (A.D. 365-427)
Once More Fields and Gardens[132]
ANONYMOUS. LIANG DYNASTY (A.D. 502-557)
Song of the Snapped Willow[134]
AUTHORSHIP UNCERTAIN. CHOU DYNASTY. REIGN OF KING HSÜAN. (826-781 B.C.)
The Cloudy River[135]
EMPEROR WU OF HAN. (156-87 B.C.)
To the Air: "The Fallen Leaves"[139]
EMPEROR CHAO OF HAN. (94-73 B.C.)
Early Autumn at the Pool of Sprinkling Water[140]
EMPEROR LING OF LATER HAN. (A.D. 156-189)
Proclaiming the Joy of Certain Hours[141]
PAN CHIEH-YÜ. (Circa 32 B.C.)
Song of Grief[142]
CHIANG TS'AI-P'IN. (Circa A.D. 750)
Letter of Thanks for Precious Pearls[143]
YANG KUEI-FEI. (Circa A.D. 750)
Dancing[144]
LIANG DYNASTY. (A.D. 502-557)
Songs of the Courtesans[145]
MOTHER OF THE LORD OF SUNG. (Circa 600 B.C.)
The Great Ho River[147]
WRITTEN PICTURES
An Evening Meeting[151]
The Emperor's Return[152]
Portrait of Beautiful Concubine[153]
Calligraphy[154]
The Palace Blossoms[155]
One Goes a Journey[156]
From the Straw Hut Among the Seven Peaks[157]
On the Classic of the Hills and Sea[159]
The Hermit[160]
After How Many Years[161]
The Inn at the Mountain Pass[164]
Li T'ai-po Meditates[165]
Pair of Scrolls[166]
Two Panels[167]
The Return[168]
Evening Calm[169]
Fishing Picture[170]
Spring. Summer. Autumn[171]
NOTES.[173]
KEY TO PLAN OF CHINESE HOUSE[223]
TABLE OF CHINESE HISTORICAL PERIODS[227]

Thanks are due to the editors of The North American Review, The Bookman, The Dial, The New York Evening Post, Poetry, and Asia, for permission to reprint poems which have already appeared in their magazines.

ILLUSTRATIONS