孟郊

烈女操

梧桐相待老， 鸳鸯会双死；

贞妇贵殉夫， 舍生亦如此。

波澜誓不起， 妾心井中水。

Folk-song-styled-verse

Meng Jiao

A SONG OF A PURE-HEARTED GIRL

Lakka-trees ripen two by two

And mandarin-ducks die side by side.

If a true-hearted girl will love only her husband,

In a life as faithfully lived as theirs,

What troubling wave can arrive to vex

A spirit like water in a timeless well？