Yuan Mei. Illusion

*
"A Feast of Lanterns", by L. Cranmer-Byng, [1916],

p. 92

Illusion

'Tis we that wail the hour of birth,

'Tis others weep the hour we die.

If I am sad, 'tis others sing;

Should they lament, I will be feasting.

All flows, all passes, like yon stream;

Like yonder wind-wheel all revolves.

We change the fire-drill, changing not the fire;

New lamps or old, what matters it?

'Tis laughable that all men flock in crowds

To worship Buddhas and the Genii;

Austerities mean cramp and weariness,

And genuflections to the Rites a headache.

'Tis but a tangle of marsh-lights after all,

We cannot seize the shadow of the wind.

What if the gods made answer to our prayers?

With shouts of laughter I should drive the crowd.