The River Merchant's Wife by Li-Po

1. THE RIVER
MERCHANT’S
WIFE: A LETTER
By
Li Po
(701-762)

2. 1 st While my hair was still
cut straight across my
forehead
2 nd I played about the front
gate, pulling flowers.
3 rd You came by on bamboo
stilts, playing horse,
4 th You walked about my
seat, playing with blue

3. 7 th At fourteen I
married My Lord you.
8 th I never laughed,
being bashful.
9 th Lowering my head,
I looked at the wall.
10 th Called to, a

4. 11th At fifteen I
stopped scowling,
12th I desired my
dust to be mingled
with yours
13th Forever and

5. 16th At sixteen you
departed
17th You went into far
Ku-to-yen, by the
river of swirling
eddies,
18th And you have

6. 20th You dragged your feet when you
went out.
21st By the gate now, the moss is grown,
the different mosses,
22nd Too deep to clear them away!
23rd The leaves fall early this autumn, in
wind.
24th The paired butterflies are already
yellow with August
25th Over the grass in the West garden;
26th They hurt me. I grow older.
th