Ruined and ill—a man of two score; <br />Pretty and guileless—a girl of three. <br />Not a boy—but still better than nothing: <br />To soothe one’s feeling—from time to time a kiss! <br />There came a day—they suddenly took her from me; <br />Her soul’s shadow wandered I know not where. <br />And when I remember how just at the time she died <br />She lisped strange sounds, beginning to learn to talk, <br />Then I know that the ties of flesh and blood <br />Only bind us to a load of grief and sorrow. <br /> <br />At last, by thinking of the time before she was born, <br />By thought and reason I drove the pain away. <br />Since my heart forgot her, many days have passed <br />And three times winter has changed to spring. <br /> <br />This morning, for a little, the old grief came back, <br />Because, in the road, I met her foster-nurse.<br /><br />Po Chu-I<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/remembering-golden-bells/
