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I recently picked up the bronze box shown in the attached images. I am very interested in finding out exactly what the text says on the top of the box and hopefully the age of the box. Any and all input is deeply appreciated. Thanks up front for your help

text is a poem by Song poet Li Zhiyi in a particular format (that dictates that certain characters in the poem must have certain tones). a basic translation is "I live at the head of the Yangzi River, you live at its tail. I think of you every day but we never see each other, even though we both drink the Yangzi's water. When will these waters stop their flow? When will my regret end? All I want is for your heart to feel as mine; I will not let you down."
Here's a Chinese link with relevant details: http://baike.baidu.com/view/660389.htm

These boxes were used to contain ink but I very much doubt this one precedes the mid 20th century despite its apparent age, because the poet's name is preceded by (宋), which indicates the Song period, something educational that wasn't done until quite recently in China and information which probably would not have been necessary to carve into such a box before the PRC.

Thanks so much for the detailed response. It is exactly what I was hoping for.

Best regards,

Scott

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