"The country is broken, but mountains and rivers remain."

"My poems are no use—they won’t fill anyone’s stomach."

"I’m so poor I can’t even afford to be sick."

"Dew is heavy on the grass below, the spider's web is ready. Heaven's ways include the human: among a thousand sorrows, I stand alone."

"The mud has thawed, and swallows fly around, On the warm sand, mandarin ducks are sleeping."