in times gone by
Zhou Maoshu sat in his boat
and the boatman rowed it out

Zhou Maoshu went in his boat
to appreciate the lotuses
strewn about in the lake

And the vast sky was everywhere
and the willow huge in the foreground
and a line of them
receding into the mist
and Zhou Mashu sang a song
there in the lake as he sat in his boat:
*water spreads about
and the lotus
is scattered over it
I, Zhao Mashu, am in my boat
and this is neither a journey or end;
here we are but another part of the whole -
it is the seeing of beauty
and that is all there is
here and beyond
now and ever