Chinese and Arabian Literature - E. Wilson - The Search For Mecca

BOOK XII
THE ODES OF CH'IN
The Contentment of a Poor Recluse
My only door some pieces of crossed wood,
Within it I can rest enjoy.
I drink the water wimpling from the spring;
Nor hunger can my peace destroy.
Purged from ambition's aims I say, " For fish.
We need not bream caught in the Ho
Nor, to possess the sweets of love, require
To Ts'e, to find a Keang, to go.
" The man contented with his lot, a meal
Of fish without Ho carp can make
Nor needs, to rest in his domestic joy,
A Tsze of Sung as wife to take."
The Disappointed Lover
Where grow the willows near the eastern gate,
And 'neath their leafy shade we could recline,
She said at evening she would me await,
And brightly now I see the day-star shine!
Here where the willows near the eastern gate
Grow, and their dense leaves make a shady gloom.
She said at evening she would me await.
See now the morning star the sky illume!
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