Return to the Countryside

I planted beans near the Southern Hill
But grew more grass than beans.
At sunrise I go weeding my fields,
I come home, hoe on my shoulder,
In darkness lit by the moon.
The path is narrow,
The grass is high.
Dew wets my clothing.
It's fine, it's all right,
I'm doing exactly what my heart desires.

by Tao Yuanming (365-427 AD)
from An Anthology of Chinese Poetry, edited by Ding Zuxin (2000, Liaoning University Press)