Two swallows in the rafters....

I don't want to bore you with the Eric Liddell collection of silk paintings, etc, but these two swallows seemed beautiful.

I found this poem by Li Shangyin (812-858) not the same as the one here, I did check the characters.

But here it is - two swallows in the rafters

Where is it, the sad lyre which follows the quick flute?
Down endless lanes where the cherries flower, on a bank where the willows droop.
The lady of the East house grows old without a husband,
The white sun at high noon, the last spring month half over.
Princess Li-yang is fourteen,
In the cool of the day, after the Rain Feast, with him behind the fence, look.
... Come home, toss and turn till the fifth watch.
Two swallows in the rafters hear the long sigh.

And the notes: The poem presents a contrast between the beautiful lady of the East house, who has been left on the shelf, and young Princess Li Yang, daughter of Emperor Jianwen (503-551) of the Liang dynasty. Li Yang was a noted beauty who married the powerful general Hou Jing.

The line that runs 'with him behind the fence, look' tends to suggest some kind of hanky-panky. The Chinese does not have this salacious implication. In fact, it appears to refer to a story that Emperor Jianwen went out hunting one day, and came back to find his daughter and General Hou Jing trying out the imperial throne, a presage of the General's rebellion against the throne in later years.

The final lines refer to swallows in the rafters as witnesses to the loneliness of the lady in the East House. Pairs of swallows often build their nests inside people's homes and are a symbol of marital devotion and happy married life. The swallows in the rafters here form a cruel contrast to the lonely unwed lady in the room below.

Chinese commentators suggest that the poem is actually an allegory. The lady in the East House, who is beautiful but lacks powerful political connections, is the poet. The poet laments that, like the lady, he is being neglected by his political master. In contrast, the trusted General Hou Jing who married the Emperor's daughter ultimately turned out to be treacherous.

Pink Floyd used this poetry in their early songs.

(Bathrobe's "Chinese, Japanese & Vietnamese Language Site" )