THE RETURN
Florence Wheelock Ayscough translation
He is a solitary traveller Returning to his home in the West. Ah, but how difficult to find the way! He has journeyed three thousand _li_. He has attended an Imperial audience at the Twelve Towers. He sees the slanting willows by the road With their new leaves, But when he left his house His eyes were dazzled by the colours Of Autumn. What darkness fills them now! He is far from the Autumn-bright hills He remembers. The spread of the river before him is empty, It slides—slides.
Li Hai-ku, 19th Century