Page:A history of Chinese literature - Giles.djvu/198

 1 86 CHINESE LITERATURE

And so, where my fancy led me t Better than if I had sought it, I heard the music of 'heaven, Astounded by its rare strains?

xix. DESPONDENT.

" A gale ruffles the stream And trees in the forest crack; My thoughts are bitter as death, For she whom I asked will not come. A hundred years slip by like water, Riches and rank are but cold ashes, TAG is daily passing away, To whom shall we turn for salvation ? The brave soldier draws his sword, And tears flow with endless lamentation; The wind whistles, leaves fall, And rain trickles through the old thatch"

xx. FORM AND FEATURE.

" After gazing fixedly upon expression and substance The mind returns with a spiritual image, As when seeking the outlines of waves, As when painting the glory of spring. The changing shapes of wind-swept clouds^ The energies of flowers and plants, The rolling breakers of ocean, The crags and cliff's of mountains, All these are like mighty TAO, Skilfully woven into earthly surroundings. . . . To obtain likeness without form, Is not that to possess the man f "

xxi. THE TRANSCENDENTAL.

" Not of the spirituality of the mind, Nor yet of the atoms of the cosmos, But as though reached upon white clouds^ Borne thither by pellucid breezes. Afar, it seems at hand, Approach, 'tis no longer there j

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