Mn, Davis on the Poetry of t lie Chinese. 409 



Let us convey an exhortation to the husbandman. 

 That he delay not the business of his western fields. 



2. 



" The green foliao^e of the willows lias not yet shaded the path. 

 But the peach-blossoms already cover the grove : 

 Every inanimate thing seems to feel the influence of the season, 

 Shall I then be unmindful of the purposes of heaven ? 

 Like some who lean on their tables, and grow unprofitably old. 

 Who exert not their strength in the proper time : 

 — The rain falls in drops before my rude door-way. 

 As I stroll about, or sit, immersed in such meditations." 



Rhymes, however, are by no means confined to regular verse (of wliicli 

 it is our particular business at present to detail the laws), being very appa- 

 rent in the following citation, a species of composition called Tsze, some- 

 thing between prose and poetry, in which the rhyme is repeated at the end 

 of lines of indeterminate length. The passage is descriptive of a field or 

 bed of chrysanthemums, flowers which the Chinese admire on account of 

 the brilliancy of their colours, and which they display towards winter in 

 large quantities about their houses. 



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 $- ^ 'Jk '¥i fit « ?^ f: M 



m m t f4 m ^ )\T ik 



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Sowying mwan le, soo heang ,9071 king, slmi-sliin ts en-ts en hivong seang ying; loo 

 hea tseih ying ; he ko tsanfoong ; yew hwong sih, shuey kan ping: ching tan taou ko I en 

 laejoo sin ping; yen-yen kae chii tsew tsing sing: wan yen tsin mo che heen-Men ; seu che 

 she (few Taou-kea hing. 



" Their slender shadows fill the enclosure, and a scattered perfume pervades the 

 (lower-bed.s, planted in triple rows : their deeper and lighlor tints reflect a yellow liglit. 



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