On the Banks of Jo-Yeh

By the river-side at Jo-yeh,

girls plucking lotus;

Laughing across the lotus-flowers,

each whispers to a friend.

Their powdered cheeks, lit by the sun,

are mirrored deep in the pool;

Their scented skirts, caught by the wind,

flap high in the air.

Who are these gaily riding

along the river-bank,

Three by three and five by five,

glinting through the willow-boughs?

Deep the hoofs of their neighing roans

sink into the fallen leaves;

The riders see, for a moment pause,

and are gone with a pang at heart.