“_See where, like specks of spring-cloud in the sky, On their long northern route the wild geese fly; Together o’er the River we will roam.... Ah! they go towards, and I away from home!_” Here is another in a more humorous vein:-- “_The rain had been raining the whole of the day, And I had been straining and working away.... What’s the trouble, O cook? You’ve no millet in store? Well, I’ve written a book which will buy us some more._” [Sidenote: FANG WEI-I] Taken altogether, the poetry of the present dynasty, especially that of the nineteenth century, must be written down as nothing more than artificial verse, with the art not even concealed, but grossly patent to the dullest observer. A collection of extracts from about 2000 representative poets was published in 1857, but it is very dull reading, any thoughts, save the most commonplace, being few and far between. As in every similar collection, a place is assigned to poetesses, of whom FANG WEI-I would perhaps be a favourable example. She came from a good family, and was but newly married to a promising young official when the latter died, and left her a sorrowing and childless widow. Light came to her in the darkness, and disregarding the entreaties of her father and mother, she decided to become a nun, and devote the remainder of her life to the service of Buddha. These are her farewell lines:-- “_’Tis common talk how partings sadden life: There are no partings for us after death. But let that pass; now no more a wife, Will face fate’s issues to my latest breath._ “_The north wind whistles thro’ the mulberry grove, Daily and nightly making moan for me; I look up to the shifting sky above, No little prattler smiling on my knee._ “_Life’s sweetest boon is after all to die.... My weeping parents still are loth to yield; Yet east and west the callow fledglings fly, And autumn’s herbage wanders far afield._ “_What will life bring to me an I should stay? What will death bring to me an I should go? These thoughts surge through me in the light of day, And make me conscious that at last I know._”