NPM: Two Swallows

April is National Poetry Month. I intend to celebrate it by posting a poem every day. This one is by Li Po (translator's name not given by the Columbia Book of Chinese Poetry)

Two Swallows

Two swallows, and two swallows...
Always, the swallows fly in couples. When
They see a tower of jade, or a lacquered pavilion,
One never perches there without the other.
When they find a balustrade of marble
Or a gilded window, they never separate.

Once there were two swallows...
When the girder of cedar which sheltered
Their nest took fire, the two birds sought
Refuge in a palace of the king of Wu, but
The palace of the king of Wu burned down
And the male and the little ones
Burned too. When she returned,
The female sat contemplating the ruins.

This story saddens me infinitely.