Whence came those sweet sounds? Who the unseen musi

cian

That breathes out his soul which floats on the night

breeze

In melodious sighs-in strains so elysian

As to soften the hearts of rude soldiers like these?

Each looked at the other, but no word was spoken.
The music insensibly tempting then on :

They must return home :-ere the daylight had broken,
The enemy looked, and behold, they were gone!

There's a magic in music-a witchery in it,

Indescribable either with tongue or with pen;

The flute of Chang-liang,1 in that one little minute,
Had stolen the courage of eight thousand men.

Chang-liang, one of the officers of Liu-pang (the first Emperor of the former Han dynasty), the night before a battle was playing his flute on the mountain-side, when the troops of the enemy under Pawang became so affected by the melancholy strains, and with such an intense longing for home, that eight thousand of them retreated during the night. The ranz des vaches is said to produce a similar effect on the Swiss, i.e. home-sickness.

YANG-KUEI-FEI.

(A CHINESE ANACREONTIC.)

BEAUTIFUL was Yang-kuei-fei;
She was a bewitching creature ;
In winning ways, in form and feature,
Who more graceful, light and free?
Who more beautiful than she?

In all the Empire who more fair ?`
Who had such a pure complexion?
In her every word and action,
In truth, she was beyond compare,
Peerless exquisite ! perfection!
Thousands daily sing the praise

Of Yang-kuei-fei in fifty plays.'

The book of plays of which she is the heroine contains 50 pieces,

and is still highly popular among the millions of China.

Beautiful was Yang-kuei-fei,

Sad or smiling, silent, talking,
Sitting, standing, riding, walking,
Who more graceful, light and free?
Who possessed such charms as she?

Black hair undulating, waving,
In a mass of cloudy tresses,

Ever toying, ever laving,

Lavishing their sweet caresses

On her neck and shoulders, made

Of living, moving, breathing jade:
Who more beautiful than she?

Beautiful was Yang-kuei-fei :

Eyebrows shaped like leaves of willows,

Drooping over "autumn billows; "1

Almond shaped, of liquid brightness,
Were the eyes of Yang-kuei-fei.

Now half-closed, now twinkling slily,
Peeping from their corners shyly,
Drooping coyly, archly glancing,
Gleaming, flashing, beaming, dancing,

Who had brighter eyes than she?

Ch'iu-po,

"autumn waves," figurative for beautiful eyes.

At one moment with tears her bright eyes would be swim

ming,

The next, with mischief and fun they'd be brimming.
Thousands of sonnets were writ in the praise of them;
Li-tai-pai wrote a song for each separate phase of them.

Bashfully, swimmingly, pleadingly, scoffingly,
Temptingly, languidly, lovingly, laughingly;
Witchingly, roguishly, playfully, naughtily,

Wilfully, waywardly, meltingly, haughtily

Gleamed the eyes of Yang-kuei-fei.

Come and with your own lips brush us,
Taste us, kiss us, press us, crush us!

We will teach you what true bliss is !

Feed you on delicious kisses!

In these ruby lips of ours,

Lurk the sweets of choicest flowers:

We possess the power of giving
Life to lifeless, bliss to living!"

When she smiled, her lips unclosing,

Two rows of pearly teeth disclosing:

Cheeks of alabaster, showing

The warm red blood beneath them glowing

Peaches, longing to be bitten

First dew-moistened-then sun-smitten.

Four lines, Li-tai-pai has written,

In more expressive words convey

What others might in vain essay :—

"Oh! for those blushing dimpled cheeks,

That match the rose in hue !1

If one were kissed-the other speaks,

By blushes 'Kiss me too.""

Beautiful was Yang-kuei-fei,

In all the Empire who more fair?

Who more beautiful than she?

To this day flowers and colours are named after her; the colour

66

known by us as rose-pink" is always called by her name.