University of Virginia Library

樂府 孟郊 烈女操

梧桐相待老, 鴛鴦會雙死;
貞婦貴殉夫, 捨生亦如此。
波瀾誓不起, 妾心井中水。

Folk-song-styled-verse
Meng Jiao A SONG OF A PURE-HEARTED GIRL

Lakka-trees ripen two by two
And mandarin-ducks die side by side.
If a true-hearted girl will love only her husband,
In a life as faithfully lived as theirs,
What troubling wave can arrive to vex
A spirit like water in a timeless well?