Lament of the Ladies of the Siang River

Lament of the Ladies of the Siang River

After Yuen I-Shan

Sweet-scented are the Kiu-e Mountains, where the white bright spring clouds fly
Over the blooms of roses and orchids that the south wind bloweth by
Shaking down the gentle petals, the bloom dust, the bloom perfume
                        In the garden about the tomb.
While a thousand springtimes pass there shall be bloom there, there shall be bloom!

Dark, dark are the Kiu-e Mountains, that the autumn clouds drift over
When the mist creeps up the river like the ghost of a dead lover,
And the pallid moonlight filters down o’er naked woodland and wan stream,
                        And fitfully the pale stars gleam,
While a thousand autumns pass, sleep shall be there,—sleep and dream!

Mournful, mournful are the Kiu-e Mountains! all night long the gibbons cry,
And the wind wails o’er the desolate garden under the rainy moonless sky,
And tears drop from the bamboo branches, and tears drop from the sodden fern,
                        And the river and the mountains mourn:—
While a thousand autumns pass our Lord shall not return!

The Theosophical Path, April 1927