Page:A history of Chinese literature - Giles.djvu/247

 from which I infer that the magnetic current is flowing from south to north, and that some southerner is coming into power, with manifold consequences to the State." The subsequent appearance of Wang An-shih was re- garded as a verification of his skill.

The great reformer here mentioned found time, amid the cares of his economic revolution, to indulge in poetical composition. Here is his account of a nuit blanche, an excellent example of the difficult "stop- short : "

" The incense-stick is burnt to ash,

the water-clock is stilled. The midnight breeze blows sharply fiy, and all around is chilled.

" Vet I am kept from slumber

by the beauty of the spring. . . Sweet shapes of flowers across the blind

the quivering moonbeams fling /"

Here, too, is a short poem by the classical scholar, Huang Ting-chien, written on the annual visit for wor- ship at the tombs of ancestors, in full view of the hillside cemetery :

" The peach and plum trees smile with flowers

this famous day of spring, And country graveyards round about

with lamentations ring. Thunder has startled insect life

and roused the gnats and bees, A gentle rain has urged the crops

and soothed the flowers and trees. . . . Perhaps on this side lie the bones

of a wretch whom no one knows; On that, the sacred asiies

of a patriot repose.

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