Nature
Sung to the Air: "Looking South Over the River and Dreaming"
Translated by Florence Ayscough and Amy Lowell (1921) · From Fir-Flower Tablets (1921)
The hair is combed,
The face is washed,
All is done.
Alone, in the upper story of my Summer-house, I bend forward, looking at the river.
A thousand sails pass--but among all of them the one is not.
The slant sunlight will not speak,
It will not speak.
The long-stretched water scarcely moves.
My bowels are broken within me.
Oh! Island of the White Water Flowers!
Cite this poem
MLA
T’ing-yün, Wen. “Sung to the Air: "Looking South Over the River and Dreaming".” Translated by Florence Ayscough and Amy Lowell. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/wen-ting-yun/0/.
Chicago
T’ing-yün, Wen. “Sung to the Air: "Looking South Over the River and Dreaming".” Translated by Florence Ayscough and Amy Lowell. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/wen-ting-yun/0/.
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