The Sad Zither
Li Shangyin

Why should the sad zither have fifty strings?
Each string, each strain evokes but vanished springs:
Dim morning dream to be a butterfly;
Amorous heart poured out in cuckoo’s cry.
In moonlit pearls see tears in mermaid’s eyes;
From sunburnt jade in Blue Field let smoke rise.
Such feeling cannot be recalled again:
It seemed lost even when it was felt then.