Young maidens pluck flowers,
Pluck flowers on the riverbank.
Between bushes and leaves they sit,
Gathering blossoms in their skirts and calling
To each other teasingly.
Golden sunlight weaves around their figures,
Mirroring them in the shining water,
Sunlight plays around their slender limbs,
And in their sweet eyes,
And the breeze lifts with caresses the fabric
Of their sleeves upward, bringing the magic
Of their sweet scent through the air.
Oh look, at those handsome boys romping
There on the riverbank on spirited horses?
They glow like the sun's rays in the distance;
Now between the branches of the green willows
The fresh young men trot along!
The horse of one whinnies joyously
And shies and storms off,
Its hooves staggering over grasses and flowers,
Trampling in the storm of broken blossoms,
Hey! How its mane flaps in frenzy,
Its nostrils steam hotly!
Golden sunlight weaves around their figures,
Mirroring them in the shining water.
And the loveliest of the maidens sends Long gazes of desire after him.
Her strong posture is only a facade.
In the shine of her big eyes,
In the dark of her hot gaze
The excitement of her heart surges lamentingly after him.

(After Li T'ai-po)