"When I Think Of My People Broken Down", as translated in "The Poetry of Sri Lanka", in Journal of South Asian Literature, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Fall-Winter 1976), published by Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University, p. 11
Context: Unbearable becomes the pain in my heart —
When I think of my people, broken down,
broken by disease in mind and limb. On the edge of life they always linger;
For countless are the diseases
Of Ignorance and Hunger. And on treacherous paths to Slavery
like children blind, they would walk behind
strangers from over the sea. O, divine Land, blessed by the gods!
O, ancient Mother of Culture and Art!
Thy children today are spineless hordes.
“In the depth of the night not daring to let any one know
I secretly took a huge stone and dashed it against my arm.
For drawing the bow and waving the banner now wholly unfit;
I knew henceforward I should not be sent to fight in Yün-nan.
Bones broken and sinews wounded could not fail to hurt;
I was ready enough to bear pain, if only I got back home.
My arm—broken ever since; it was sixty years ago.
One limb, although destroyed,—whole body safe!
But even now on winter nights when the wind and rain blow
From evening on till day's dawn I cannot sleep for pain.
Not sleeping for pain
Is a small thing to bear,
Compared with the joy of being alive…”
"The Old Man with the Broken Arm" (a satire on militarism)
Arthur Waley's translations
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Bai Juyi 12
Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty 772–846Related quotes
Quoted in "Books: The Great Gadfly", Time magazine, 8 October 1965 (review of The Age of Voltaire by Will and Ariel Durant)
Crying in the Rain (1962), Co-written with Howard Greenfield, first recorded by The Everly Brothers
Song lyrics, Singles
“What a dog I got, his favorite bone is in my arm. ”
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