Love
An Absent Husband
Translated by Herbert A. Giles (1898) · From Chinese Poetry in English Verse (1898)
Floating clouds that swim in heaven above
Bear on your wings these words to him
I love
Alas, you float along nor heed my pain,
And leave me here to love and long in vain!
I see other dear ones to their homes return,
And for his coming shall not I too yearn?
Since my lord left — ah me, unhappy day! —
My mirror's dust has not been brushed away;
My heart, like running water, knows no peace,
But bleeds and bleeds forever without cease.
Cite this poem
MLA
Kan, Hsü. “An Absent Husband.” Translated by Herbert A. Giles. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/hsu-kan/0/.
Chicago
Kan, Hsü. “An Absent Husband.” Translated by Herbert A. Giles. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/hsu-kan/0/.