song of endless sorrow
synchronize with music attached
Emperor Hsuan Tsung
had ruled 20 years
without finding that beauty he
craved
and while he still sought her
concealed in her home
a young girl so beautiful
she could not be hidden or left
unknown
was chosen for the Court
synchr____one flick of her eyebrow
one glimpse of her smile
six palaces stood empty
all beauty became nothing
for the Emperor saw her bathing
one cold Spring Day
in hot Wah Ching pool
her skin shedding softness to the
silken water
snow white
fragile
maids ran to help her in case she
should fall
this first day the Emperor
rejoiced in her
dark clouds her hair, fresh
flowers her face
her crown moved sky as she swayed
through warm Spring nights that
seemed so short
a mere flicker of darkness
before sunlight brightened their
velvet bed
laughter and lovemaking
leaving no time for the problems
of State
beside him she feasted
wine burnished her cheeks
in their chamber, shadows
brimming, gold tones at dusk
she prepared for the night
3000 beauties dwelt in the Palace
only 1 had the King’s love
synchr____her relatives were
honored
her homeland praised
everywhere parents treasured
young girls
Li Palace rose up giving music to
the breeze
soft songs slow dance
frozen tableaux in the air
his regal eyes would not gaze
away from hers
till Yu Yang’s war drums finally
arrived
cut short that lovely
Yee Tong tune
war dust and smoke
a long line of carriages
carried the Court away
fleeing southwest
the Emperor’s flag moving forward
on the road
travelled less than one hundred
miles
before his Army stopped him
demanded her life should atone
for his deeds
his neglect of the State
And the Emperor was powerless
he could not prevent his Army
from hanging her
horses watched her die
fade out___ear rings
bracelets
pins
all scattered on the ground
her golden sparrow hairpin
glittered among them
but no-one would touch them
his arm to his eyes he heard her
sobs stop
his arm fell limp, tears, blood,
fell down
5 second pause____
yellow dust filled the sky
cold winds everywhere
those that went with him followed
that hard road
that curves up Kan-Kock till
beneath Au Mia peak
a remnant around him
his flag paused
gathered strength
clear rivers
green mountains
crisp air
all these could cure any grief
except for the Emperor’s
day and night he longed for her
and if moonlight touched him his
heart shivered
and if nights were cloudy the
sound of rain like bells
on his tent, cut him to pieces
5 second pause____
then order was restored
the Emperor travelled back
came to Horse Ridge
where his grief began
searched for her jade face buried
underground
he could not see her
he waited prayed
his ministers came close to him
their clothes drenched with tears
his horse pulled him home
the Palace unchanged
hibiscus still blossomed by the
pool where she bathed
hibiscus like her face her brow
like the willows
with images like these could he
not cry
Spring came
flowers blossomed
peaches
plums
blew open
autumn rain
leaves shriveled
fell
gardens unkempt
leaves lying in mounds
no-one would sweep them
clowns, jokers
their hair turning white
eunuchs, chambermaids
all grew old
at night only fireflies
accompanied him
his oil-lamp burnt out
sleep would not follow
watch bells rang out
each night more endless
who was beside him in the cold
grey morning?
when thick frost whitened the yin
yang tiles?
for one year this feeling
numb not dead
life absent dreams empty
5 second pause
enter after music____
from Ling Chun a Taoist came to
the Emperor
his sincerity allowed him to call
on the dead
he could travel on clouds
run like lightning
had been to the sky’s end
the ends of the earth
he offered the Emperor his help
in Heaven in Hell he could not
find her
till he overheard angels talking
of a mountain
far over the sea
floating free in the air
in five colored clouds
wafted by the wind
between two veils
where dwelling in a city
of delicate houses
a lady Tai Ching
her face full of flowers
like snow her skin
was she not the loved one?
the lost Lady Yang?
brief pause____
the Taoist went there, went to
the west-most house
knocked on a jade door
told the maids to announce
Hsuan Tsung’s messenger had come
as if still in her dreams
she rose from her bed
hurriedly smoothing the pillows
bead curtain swept back
silver screen falling
she came quickly from the bedroom
her hairpin tilted
her cap falling loose
just as it had when she danced to
that lovely
Yee Tong tune
tears running down had riven her
cheeks
like peach blossom stained by
rain
she thanked his kindness eyes
glowing with love
she hadn’t seen his smile
heard his voice in her dreams
each lonely night she recounted
as she looked down
mist and dust
obscured the Palace where her
heart still dwelt
a gold box, a gold hairpin, she
broke both in half
bade the messenger to say to her
Lord
“his heart and hers like the
halves of these tokens
would go on as true as sustaining
as gold
till somewhere they would meet”
did the Emperor still remember
the oath they had made
at midnight in Chumsong Palace on
the 7th day in July
synchr____“like birds joining wing
we will fly on forever
like entangled roots
we will live never part”
the sky has a height
the earth a limit
eternity will end
their sorrow
flows
beyond
Po-Chu-Yi
music by Chris
Horne
translated by David
Sen & Dick Russell
Copyright © Horne, Sen
& Russell 2015
First
published in Chapman, Volume III, No 4,
Edinburgh,
Scotland 1975
Editors:
Walter Perrie, Joy Hendry, Robert R. Calder
