A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems/On hearing someone sing a Poem by Yüan Chēn
ON HEARING SOMEONE SING A POEM BY YÜAN CHĒN
Written long after Chēn's death
No new poems his brush will trace:
Even his fame is dead.
His old poems are deep in dust
At the bottom of boxes and cupboards.
Once lately, when someone was singing.
Suddenly I heard a verse —
Before I had time to catch the words
A pain had stabbed my heart.