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A Promise
Translated by Herbert A. Giles (1898) · From Chinese Poetry in English Verse (1898)
Sweet flowers were blooming all around when your last farewell you said,
And now the opening buds proclaim another year has fled.
'Tis difficult to prophesy beyond the present day,
And the remedy for trouble is to sleep it all away.
I suffer much in body, and I long for the old spot.
But cannot bring myself in pensioned idleness to rot.
You say that you will visit me, that you are coming soon:
'Twixt now and then how often shall I see the full-orbed moon?
Cite this poem
MLA
Ying-wu, Wei. “A Promise.” Translated by Herbert A. Giles. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/wei-ying-wu/2/.
Chicago
Ying-wu, Wei. “A Promise.” Translated by Herbert A. Giles. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/wei-ying-wu/2/.
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