Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


GOLDEN BELLS by PO CHU-YI

First Line: WHEN I WAS ALMOST FORTY
Last Line: MUST NOW BE POSTPONED FOR FIFTEEN YEARS!
Subject(s): CHINA - TANG DYNASTY (618-905); FATHERS & DAUGHTERS;

WHEN I was almost forty
I had a daughter whose name was Golden Bells.
Now it is just a year since she was born;
She is learning to sit and cannot yet talk.
Ashamed, -- to find that I have not a sage's heart:
I cannot resist vulgar thoughts and feelings.
Henceforward I am tied to things outside myself:
My only reward, -- the pleasure I am getting now.
If I am spared the grief of her dying young,
Then I shall have the trouble of getting her married.
My plan for retiring and going back to the hills
Must now be postponed for fifteen years!



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