Or amid orchises and sandal-trees
Shall walk in the dark woods.
O Soul come back and live for these delights!
Peacocks shall fill your gardens; you shall rear
The roc and phœnix, and red jungle-fowl,
Whose cry at dawn assembles river storks
To join the play of cranes and ibises;
Where the wild-swan all day
Pursues the glint of idle king-fishers.
O Soul come back to watch the birds in flight!
He who has found such manifold delights
Shall feel his cheeks aglow
And the blood-spirit dancing through his limbs.
Stay with me, Soul, and share
The span of days that happiness will bring;
See sons and grandsons serving at the Court
Ennobled and enriched.
O Soul come back and bring prosperity
To house and stock!
The roads that lead to Ch'u
Shall teem with travellers as thick as clouds,
A thousand miles away.
For the Five Orders of Nobility
Shall summon sages to assist the King
And with godlike discrimination choose
The wise in council; by their aid to probe
The hidden discontents of humble men
And help the lonely poor.
O Soul come back and end what we began!
Page:More Translations from the Chinese (Waley).djvu/22
[18]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/More_Translations_from_the_Chinese_%28Waley%29.djvu/page22-1024px-More_Translations_from_the_Chinese_%28Waley%29.djvu.jpg)