Classic Poem

Now another's land — Will spring return again to stolen fields?
My body bathed in sunlight,
I walk and walk in a dream
A path parting the fields like a comb to where blue sky and green earth merge.

Sky, and Earth, mouths tight shut:
I know in my heart I have not come on my own.
Have you drawn me out? Is there someone who calls me? Answer and ease me!

The winds whisper in my ear
Don't pause even one step . They tug at my clothes,
While over the clouds a lark sings like the girl beyond the hedge.

Barley fields, full and rich with grain:
In the gentle rains that fell past midnight
You have washed and coiled your luxuriant hair. Even my cares feel lifted.

Alone, as I press on in my flight,
The gentle streams holding the thirsty fields
Sing a nursing song as they dance along, light-shouldered.

Swallow and butterfly, alight!
You must greet the cockscomb and honeysuckle.
I seek the fields the young girl gleaned, her black oiled hair shining.

Put the hoe in my hand.
I want to tread this earth, soft and full as a breast,
Until my ankles ache and the good sweat runs down.

My soul, like a child coming out by the river,
Running free and unbounded: What are you seeking?
Where are you going? Give me an answer! How can you feel such joy?

My body wears a green scent, as on the verge
Between green laughter and green sorrow I have walked all day
Until my legs have gone lame, and still the spring seems spirited away.

Because now, these fields have been stolen, and the spring itself may be stolen too.