Nature ever calls people to live Along with her; why should I be lured By transient rank and honours? - Du Fu

Clear waters wind
Around our village,
With long summer days
Full of loveliness;
Fluttering in and out
From the house beams
The swallows play;
Waterfowl disport together
As everlasting lovers; ...
What more could I wish for?

Tumult, weeping, many new ghosts.
Heartbroken, aging, alone, I sing
To myself. Ragged mist settles
In the spreading dusk. Snow skurries
In the coiling wind. The wineglass
Is spilled. The bottle is empty.
The fire has gone out in the stove.
Everywhere men speak in whispers.
I brood on the uselessness of letters.

戰哭多新鬼，愁吟獨老翁。
亂雲低薄暮，急雪舞迴風。
瓢棄尊無綠，爐存火似紅。
數州訊息斷，愁坐正書空。