A Farmhouse on the Wei River - Wang Wei

In the slant of the sun on the country-side,
Cattle and sheep trail home along the lane;

Dong Qichang's painting
"Landscapes in the Manner of Old Masters"
(Wang Wei)

And a rugged old man in a thatch door
Leans on a staff and thinks of his son, the herdboy.
There are whirring pheasants, full wheat-ears,
Silk-worms asleep, pared mulberry-leaves.
And the farmers, returning with hoes on their shoulders,
Hail one another familiarly.
... No wonder I long for the simple life
And am sighing the old song, Oh, to go Back Again.

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Wang Wei (699 - 759) China