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The River and the Leaf

by Po Chu-i · in A Lute of Jade
Translated by L. Cranmer-Byng (1909) · From A Lute of Jade (1909)

Into the night the sounds of luting flow;
The west wind stirs amid the root-crop blue;
While envious fireflies spoil the twinkling dew,
And early wild-geese stem the dark Kin-ho.

Now great trees tell their secrets to the sky,
And hill on hill looms in the moon-clear night.
I watch one leaf upon the river light,
And in a dream go drifting down the Hwai.

This poem and this translation are in the public domain. Source text: Project Gutenberg.

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