For Whom?
Hsu Chih-Mo

These days the autumn wind blows very chill.
I fear to see in our courtyard
Leaves rolling fiercely about like wounded birds,
Hurt by invisible arrows—
Perish, all perish: beauty, colour, life.

Only the creeper on the western walls
Retains his hue, like spots on leopard skin,
Bearing the buffets of the wind
His sobs and moans are scarcely audible.
“I am suffering for you,” he seems to say.

He is suffering for me, the comely creeper!
Pitiless, the autumn winds drive on,
(Destruction is their mercy!)
Drive to the ultimate flicker of life’s flame.
Soon the brave creeper from the walls has vanished.

In the sky tonight three stars with greeny gleams
List to the empty courtyard after autumn.
All’s quiet, not a sob or wail is heard,
The fallen leaves lie resting in the mud, —
Alone tonight, for whom do I feel so sad?