An ancient poem by Chinese poet
Li Po, and one of the
Seventeen Lyrics Of Li Po set to music in the twentieth century by composer
Harry Partch. The translation given here is from the 1928 Shigeyoshi Obata translation
The Works of Li Po, the Chinese Poet.
Fair One
When you were here
I filled the house with flowers
Fair One
Now you are gone
Only an empty couch is left
On the couch the embroidered quilt
is rolled up
I can not sleep
It is three years since you went
The perfume you left behind haunts me still
The perfume strays about me forever
But where are you beloved?
I sigh
The yellow leaves
fall from the branch
I weep
The dew twinkles white
on the green mosses.