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Thursday 22 September 2011

Dreaming of a dead lady

"I heard at night your long sighs
And knew that you were thinking of me."
As she spoke, the doors of Heaven opened
And our souls conversed and I saw her face.
She set me a pillow to rest on
And she brought me meat and drink.

I stood beside here where she lay,
But suddenly woke and she was not there:
And none knew how my soul was torn,
How the tears fell surging over my breast.

Pao Chao (died A.D. 466)
Translated from the Chinese by Arthur Waley

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