Page:More Translations from the Chinese (Waley).djvu/61

 [29] STARTING EARLY FROM THE CH'U-CH'ĒNG INN

by the rain, dust and grime are laid; Skirting the river, the road's course is flat. The moon has risen on the last remnants of night; The travellers' speed profits by the early cold. In the great silence I whisper a faint song; In the black darkness are bred sombre thoughts. On the lotus-banks hovers a dewy breeze; Through the rice-furrows trickles a singing stream. At the noise of our bells a sleeping dog stirs; At the sight of our torches a roosting bird wakes. Dawn glimmers through the shapes of misty trees ... For ten miles, till day at last breaks. [57]