The Poetry Corner

In The Cold Night

By Edward Powys Mathers (As Translator)

Reading in my book this cold night, I have forgotten to go to sleep. The perfumes have died on the gilded bed-cover; The last smoke must have left the hearth When I was not looking. My beautiful friend snatches away the lamp. Do you know what the time is? From the Chinese of Yuan Mei (1715-1797).