Part 10 (1/2)

The white sun gradually lengthening its course, The blue-grey clouds hanging as though they would fall; The last icicle breaking into splinters of jade; The new stems marshalling red sprouts.

The things I meet are all full of gladness; It is not only _I_ who love the Spring.

To welcome the flowers I stand in the back garden; To enjoy the sunlight I sit under the front eaves.

Yet still in my heart there lingers one regret; Soon I shall part with the flame of my red stove!

[46] GOOD-BYE TO THE PEOPLE OF HANGCHOW

[_A.D. 824_]

Elders and officers line the returning road; Wine and soup load the parting table.

I have not ruled you with the wisdom of Shao Kung;[1]

What is the reason your tears should fall so fast?

My taxes were heavy, though many of the people were poor; The farmers were hungry, for often their fields were dry.

All I did was to dam the water of the Lake[2]

And help a little in a year when things were bad.

[1] A legendary ruler who dispensed justice sitting under a wild pear-tree.

[2] Po Chu-i built the dam on the Western Lake which is still known as ”Po's dam.”

[47] WRITTEN WHEN GOVERNOR OF SOOCHOW

[_A.D. 825_]

A Government building, not my own home.

A Government garden, not my own trees.

But at Lo-yang I have a small house And on Wei River I have built a thatched hut.

I am free from the ties of marrying and giving in marriage; If I choose to retire, I have somewhere to end my days.

And though I have lingered long beyond my time, To retire now would be better than not at all!

[48] GETTING UP EARLY ON A SPRING MORNING

[_Part of a poem written when Governor of Soochow in 825_]

The early light of the rising sun s.h.i.+nes on the beams of my house; The first banging of opened doors echoes like the roll of a drum.

The dog lies curled on the stone step, for the earth is wet with dew; The birds come near to the window and chatter, telling that the day is fine.