The autumn winds are blowing,
The air is cool and drear,
The forest leaves are falling,
The grass is scant and sear.
The dew to hoar-frost changes,
And swallows southward fly;
While from the North in batches
The wild swan cloud the sky.
And I such signs discerning
Think of you, husband dear,
And long for your home-coming
From marches long and drear.
Why do you longer tarry
In such a distant place?
Think of my lonely vigils,
Sad thoughts and tear-stained face!
The harp I often finger,
And try to sing a song;
But soon I sigh and falter,
And for your coming long.
The Moon's pure light is shining
Upon my lonely bed;
The 'Star-Stream's'[18] westward flowing,
The night is not far sped.
The Cowherd and the Spinning-Girl[19]
Lament the doom that bars
The meeting of true lovers,
Across the Stream of Stars.
What folly did they ponder
To meet so dire a fate?
I wonder if we also
Are doomed to trial as great!
[17] In this poem the thoughts of a woman, whose husband is engaged in
the wars beyond the frontier, are described by the poet.
[18] The Milky Way.
[19] K'ien-Niu (Cowherd) and Chih-Nue (Spinning-Girl) are the names of
two stars and, according to a Chinese legend, these two stars are lovers
doomed to gaze at each other across the wide 'River of Stars'; i.e. the
Milky Way, but never meet. According to one version of the legend,
however, the lovers are allowed to meet once a year, on the seventh
night of the Seventh Month, when birds form a bridge over the 'River of
Stars' to enable the Spinning-Girl to meet her lover.
_Farewell to a Comrade_