“I lay my harp on the curved table,
Sitting there idly, filled only with emotions.
Why should I trouble to play?
A breeze will come and sweep the strings.”

— Bai Juyi

"The Harp", in The White Pony: An Anthology Of Chinese Poetry (1949), ed. Robert Payne, p. 220

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Bai Juyi 12

Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty 772–846

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“I lay my harp on the curved table,Sitting there idly, filled only with emotions.Why should I trouble to play?A breeze will come and sweep the strings.”

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Bai Juyi 12

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“I lay my harp on the curved table,
Sitting there idly, filled only with emotions.
Why should I trouble to play?
A breeze will come and sweep the strings.”