_I remember how once I wrote you a letter sitting in the Palace at
night,
At the back of the Hall of Golden Bells, when dawn was coming in the
sky.
This night I fold your letter--in what place?
Sitting in a cottage on Lu Shan, by the light of a late lamp.
The caged bird and fettered ape are neither of them dead yet;
In the world of men face to face will they ever meet again?_

O Wei-chih, Wei-chih! This night, this heart--do you know them or not?
Lo-t‘ien bows his head.

[1] Other name of Po Chü-i.

[2] Other name of Yüan Chēn.

[3] The extreme North and South of China.

[4] A poet, several of whose short poems are well-known.

[5] The son of Po Chü-i‘s uncle Po Ch‘i-k‘ang.

[6] A famous mountain near Kiu-kiang.

[7] What followed is omitted in the printed text.

[8] This expression is used by Yüan Chēn in a poem addressed to Po
Chü-i. By “the World,” he means their life together at Court.