s easy talk flows in an endless stream;
The country host's quiet thoughts ramble timidly on.
"I beg you, Sir, do not tell me about things at Ch`ang-an;
For you entered just when my harp was tuned and lying balanced on
my knees."

[57] TO LIU YU-HSI

[_A.D. 838_]

In length of days and soundness of limb you and I are one;
Our eyes are not wholly blind, nor our ears quite deaf.
Deep drinking we lie together, fellows of a spring day;
Or gay-hearted boldly break into gatherings of young men.
When, seeking flowers, we borrowed his horse, the river-keeper was
vexed;
When, to play on the water, we stole his boat, the Duke Ling was sore.
I hear it said that in Lo-yang, people are all shocked,
And call us by the name of "Liu and Po, those two mad old men."

[58] MY SERVANT WAKES ME

[_A.D. 839_]

My servant wakes me: "Master, it is broad day.
Rise from bed; I bring you bowl and comb.
Winter comes and the morning air is chill;
To-day your Honour must not venture abroad."
When I stay at home, no one comes to call;
What must I do with the long, idle hours?
Setting my chair where a faint sunshine falls
I have warmed wine and opened my poetry-books.

[59] SINCE I LAY ILL

[_A.D. 840_]

Since I lay ill, how long has passed?
Almost a hundred heavy-hanging days.
The maids have learnt to gather my medicine-herbs;
The dog no longer barks when the doctor comes.
The jars in my cellar are plastered deep with mould;
My singer's carpets are half crumbled to dust.
How can I bear, when the Earth renews her light,
To watch from a pillow the beauty of Spring unfold?

[60] SONG OF PAST FEELINGS [With Preface]

[_Circa A.D. 840_]

When Lo-t`ien[1] was old, he fell ill of a palsy. So he made a list of
his possessions and examined his expenses, that he might reject whatever
had become superfluous. He had in his employ a girl about twenty years
old called Fan Su, whose postures delighted him when she sang or danced.
But above all she excelled in singing the "Willow-Branch," so that many
called her by the name of this song, and she was well known by this name
in the town of Lo-yang. But she was on the list of unnecessary expenses
and was to be sent away.

He had too a white horse with black mane, sturdy and sure-footed, which
he had ridden for many years. It stood on the list o