Leaving Cambridge by Xu Zhimo

Quietly now I leave the Cam,
As quietly as I came.
Gently wave farewell the clouded
Western sky aflame— 

There the golden willow stands
a bride of sunset’s glow.
How its dancing ripples glint
and stir my heart below; 

Crowded rushes wave in water
bouncing with the weed
flowing slick by soft-soil’d banks—
I long to thus proceed! 

Duckweed-crumpled rainbow’s pool
of iridescent dream
pure as springs ’neath elmtree’s bough—
O search the shrouded stream; 

Punt toward the yonder whence
the emerald fields lie;
Return with joyous song engulfed
by tranquil starlit sky. 

But as for me, I cannot sing
this muted summer’s evening;
Even insects hush, as silence
plays the flute for leaving. 

Stealth’ly now I part from Cam,
As bid farewell I must.
Waving sleeve so gently lest
a cloudspeck I should dust.