SPRING

The lovely Lo-foh of the land of Chin,
Is plucking mulberry leaves by the blue water.
On the green boughs her white arms gleam,
And the bright sun shines upon her scarlet dress.
" My silk-worms, " says she, " are hungry, I must go.
" Tarry not with your five horses, Prince, I pray! "

SUMMER

On the Mirror Lake three hundred li around
Gaily the lotus lilies bloom.
She gathers them — Queen Hsi-shih, in Maytime!
A multitude jostles on the bank, watching.
Her boat turns back without waiting the moonrise,
And glides away to the house of the amorous Yueh king.

AUTUMN

The moon is above the city of Chang-an,
From ten thousand houses comes the sound of cloth-pounding;
The sad autumn wind blows, and there is no end
To my thought of you beyond the Jewel Gate Pass.
When will the barbarian foe be vanquished,
And you, my beloved, return from the far battlefield?

WINTER

The courier will depart on the morrow for the front.
All night she sews a soldier's jacket.
Her fingers, plying the needle, are numb with cold;
Scarce can she hold the icy scissors.
At last the work is done; she sends it a long, long way,
Oh, how many days before it reaches him in Lin-tao?