A Feast of Lanterns, by L. Cranmer-Byng, [1916]
One of the greatest statesmen that China has produced. Po Chü-i comes nearer to our idea of a poet of the Romantic School than most Chinese writers. Yet even when he tells the story of the Emperor Ming Huang and the Lady Yang Kwei-fei—the one supreme love romance of China—he deals with issues that endure beyond the curtain-fall on tragedy. For him the final crisis is never attained. A wrong done has results beyond the reach of time. For a fuller account of this poet cf. A Lute of Jade, p. 73.
My father's house in Yung-yang
Has fallen upon evil days.
No kinsmen o’er the crooked ways
Hail me as once in Yung-yang.
Only the waters of the Ch‘in and Wei
Roll green and changeless as in days gone by.
Yet I recall my play-time,
And in my dreams I see
The little ghosts of May-time
Waving farewell to me.