Page:The works of Li Po - Obata.djvu/161

 Bereft of Their Love

��Their lord was gone like wind and wave never to return. They wept and moaned, and gazed into the distance. Gazed longingly toward the deep mountains of Tsang-wu.

The Mountains of Tsang-wu may crumble, the River

Hsiang go dry. Their tears on the bamboo leaves will not fade forever.

��Huang and Hu Yin (2Jfth century B. C.) were two daughters of Emperor Yao, who gave them in marriage to his successor, Shun — the Double-pupiled One. Shun, while traveling south in the district of Tsang-wu (Hu- nan Province) died and was buried in the field. The two wives arrived too late to meet their husband, and their tear-marks produced a new species of bamboo with speckled leaves. Yui succeeded Shun as emperor.

The original of this poem, much prized for its verbal beauty and its classic allegory, is quite obscure. The native commentators have a great deal to say on the significance of the second stanza. At any rate, it is clear that Li Po, while retelling the well-known legend, alludes to his separation from the emperor and to the unhappy state of affairs at the court that was infested with unworthy and wicked men. [135]

�� �