On Leaving Guijiang Again to Xue and Liu
- Poetry of Liu Changqing

Dare I, at my age, accept my summons,

Knowing of the world's ways only wine and song?....

Over the moon-edged river come wildgeese from the Tartars;

And the thinner the leaves along the Huai, the wider the southern mountains....

I ought to be glad to take my old bones back to the capital,

But what am I good for in that world, with my few white hairs?....

As bent and decrepit as you are, I am ashamed to thank you,

When you caution me that I may encounter thunderbolts.