Page:The Spirit of the Chinese People.djvu/132

 The meaning in English is something like this:—

This grief is common to everyone, One hundred years how many can attain? But 'tis heart breaking, o waters of the Yangtze, Together we came,—but together we return not.

The feeling here is as deep, if not deeper; but the words are fewer, and the language is simpler, even than Tennyson's.

Break, break, break On thy cold grey stones, O sea!

But O for the touch of a vanished hand, And the sound of a voice that is still!

But now what about the love of a wife in China for her husband? I do not think any evidence is needed to prove this. It is true that in China the bride and bride-groom as a rule never see each other until the marraigemarriage [sic] day, and yet that there is love between even bride and bride-groom, can be seen in these four lines of poetry from the T'ang dynasty:—

The meaning in English of the above is something like this,

In the bridal chamber last night stood red candles; Waiting for the morning to salute the father and mother in the hall,