Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.
From the Straw Hut among the Seven PeaksFlorence Ayscough and Amy Lowell, trans.
From “Chinese Written Wall Pictures”
Lu Kun—Nineteenth Century
I
FLu Kun—Nineteenth Century
I look down at the green river.
There is the sail of a returning boat.
The birds are flying in pairs.
The faint snuff color of trees
Closes the horizon.
All about me
Sharp peaks jag upward,
But through my window,
And beyond,
Is the smooth, broad brightness
Of the setting sun.
Clouds brush the rocky ledge.
In the dark green shadow left by the sunken sun
A jade fountain flies,
And a little stream,
Thin as the fine thread spun by sad women in prison chambers
Slides through the grasses
And whirls suddenly upon itself
Avoiding the sharp edges of the iris leaves.
Few people pass here.
Only the hermits of the hills come in companies
To gather the Imperial Fern.