XIV. Ch‘üan Shui

The Ch‘üan Shui; allusive and narrative. A daughter of the house of Wei, married in another state, expresses her longing to revisit Wei.

1As the streamlet from its spring
Flows into the river Ch‘i,
So my daily thoughts on wing p. 42
Fly, my native Wei, to thee;
For I long with cousins there
Counsel sweet and love to share.

2For a night, at Tzu I stayed;
Drank the cup to Ni when come;
Parents, brothers, farewell bade;—
Such the fate on leaving home.
Parents are not now alive;
Aunts and sister still survive.

3Lo! I hasten home again,
Let the rushing chariot wheel
Pause at Kan, and part at Yen,
Pebbles flashing to its steel.
Does my heart go far astray,
Panting for its native Wei?

4By the Fei-ch‘üan’s winding stream
Daily sighing thought will stray.
Hsü and Ts‘ao in memory gleam,
Broken glints of childhood's day.
Spring, my horses! Speed, my wheels!
Gone the grief my bosom feels!