@3A poor man determines to go out into the world and make his fortune. His wife tries to detain him@1. I WENT out at the eastern gate: I never thought to return. But I came back to the gate with my heart full of sorrow. There was not a peck of rice in the bin: There was not a coat hanging on the pegs. So I took my sword and went towards the gate. My wife and child clutched at my coat and wept: "Some people want to be rich and grand: I only want to share my porridge with you. Above, we have the blue waves of the sky: Below, the yellow face of this little child." "Dear wife, I cannot stay. Soon it will be too late. When one is growing old One cannot put things off." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HUGH SELWYN MAUBERLEY: 13. ENVOI, 1919 by EZRA POUND THE SISTERS by JOHN BANISTER TABB HYMN ON SOLITUDE by JAMES THOMSON (1700-1748) AS A VIOLINIST by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON ALL SOUL'S EVE by SAMUEL VALENTINE COLE |