Song of Snow-White Heads
by Cho Wēn-chün
Translated by Arthur Waley

(A Chinese wife to her lord)

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.