Song of Snow-white Heads
Arthur Waley, Ernst Bacon, Cho Wen-Chun
Our love was pure
As the snow on the mountains:
White as a moon
Between the clouds –
They’re telling me
Your thoughts are double:
That’s why I’ve come
To break it off
To-day we’ll drink
A cup of wine
To-morrow we’ll part
Beside the Canal:
Walking about
Beside the Canal
Where its branches divide
East and West
Alas and alas
And again alas
So must a girl
Cry when she’s married
If she find not a man
Of single heart
Who will not heave her
Till her hair is white