Nature

Sung to the Tune of "The Unripe Hawthorn Berry"

by Niu Hsi-chi c. AD 733

Translated by Florence Ayscough and Amy Lowell (1921) · From Fir-Flower Tablets (1921)

Nature

Mist is trying to hide the Spring-coloured hills,
The sky is pale, the stars are scattered and few.
The moon is broken and fading, yet there is light on your face,
These are the tears of separation, for now it is bright dawn.

We have said many words,
But our passion is not assuaged.
Turn your head, I have still something to say:
Remember my skirt of green open-work silk,
The sweet-scented grasses everywhere will prevent your forgetting.

MLA

Hsi-chi, Niu. “Sung to the Tune of "The Unripe Hawthorn Berry".” Translated by Florence Ayscough and Amy Lowell. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/niu-hsi-chi/0/.

Chicago

Hsi-chi, Niu. “Sung to the Tune of "The Unripe Hawthorn Berry".” Translated by Florence Ayscough and Amy Lowell. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/niu-hsi-chi/0/.

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