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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


KEPT WAITING IN THE BOAT AT CHIU-K'OU TEN DAYS BY AN ADVERSE WIND by PO CHU-YI

First Line: WHITE BILLOWS AND HUGE WAVES BLOCK THE RIVER CROSSING
Last Line: WHILE I SIT IN A BOAT AT CHIU-K'OU, WASTING TEN DAYS!
Subject(s): CHINA - TANG DYNASTY (618-905); WAITING;

WHITE billows and huge waves block the river crossing;
Wherever I go, danger and difficulty; whatever I do, failure.
Just as in my worldly career I wander and lose the road,
So when I come to the river crossing, I am stopped by contrary winds.
Of fishes and prawns sodden in the rain the smell fills my nostrils;
With the stings of insects that come with the fog, my whole body is sore.
I am growing old, time flies, and my short span runs out,
While I sit in a boat at Chiu-k'ou, wasting ten days!



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