The brocade ch’in has fifty strings: there’s no reason for it,
each string and bridge conjuring up another bloom of youth:
in a morning dream, Chuang Tzu’s confused with a butterfly,
and Emperor Wang’s death left his spring passion to a nightjar
scattered blood: moonlight on vast seas–it’s a pearl’s tear:
far off, Indigo Mountain jade smokes in warm sun: up close,
smoke vanishes: can this feeling linger even in a memory:
never anything but this moment already bewildered and lost.
translated by David Hinton
yet one more translation of one of his best known poems
Beau
Thank you. He is one of my all-time favorite poets and this poem, translated by many, always moves me. Glad you liked it. I have posted it translated by others as well.