Constancy
February 14, 2008
I went out at the Eastern Gate,
I saw the girls in clouds,
Like clouds they were, and soft and bright,
But in the crowds
I thought on the maid who is my light,
Down-drooping, soft as the grey twighlight;
She is my mate
I went out by the Tower on the Wall,
I saw the girls in flower,
Like flowering rushes they swayed and bent,
But in that hour
I thought on the maid who is my saint,
In her thin white robe and her colouring faint;
She is my all.
Chinese Lyric, 680 B. C.
translated by Helen Waddell (1885-1965)
(from A Book of Beauty, John Hadfield, 1976)