From a Height

The winds cut, clouds are high,

    apes wail their sorrows,

The ait is fresh, sand white,

    birds fly in circles;

On all sides fallen leaves

    go rustling, rustling,

While ceaseless river waves

    come rippling, rippling:

Autumn’s each faded mile

    seems like my journey

To mount, alone and ill,

    to this balcony;

Life’s failures and regrets

    frosting my temples,

And wretched that I’ve had

    to give up drinking.