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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TELL ME NOW, by WANG CHI
First Line: Tell me now, what should a man want
Last Line: And, at the end, need no paradise.
Alternate Author Name(s): Wu-kung; Wang Ch'i
Subject(s): China - Middle Ages (600 B.c.- 618 A.d.); China - Tang Dynasty (618-905); Contentment; Old Age
First Line: Tell me now, what should a man want
Last Line: And, at the end, need no paradise.
Alternate Author Name(s): Wu-kung; Wang Ch'i
Subject(s): China - Middle Ages (600 B.c.- 618 A.d.); China - Tang Dynasty (618-905); Contentment; Old Age
"TELL me now, what should a man want
But to sit alone, sipping his cup of wine?"
I should like to have visitors come and discuss philosophy
And not to have the tax-collector coming to collect taxes:
My three sons married into good families
And my five daughters wedded to steady husbands.
Then I could jog through a happy five-score years
And, at the end, need no Paradise.
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