The Jade Mountain/The Inlaid Harp

by Li Shangyin

THE INLAID HARP

I wonder why my inlaid harp has fifty strings,Each with its flower-like fret an interval of youth.. . . The sage Chuang-tzŭ is day-dreaming, bewitched by butterflies,The spring-heart of Emperor Wang is crying in a cuckoo,Mermen weep their pearly tears down a moon-green sea,Blue fields are breathing their jade to the sun . . .And a moment that ought to have lasted for everHas come and gone before I knew.

(46, 1a)