A day will no doubt come when dust flies at the bottom of seas,
and how can mountaintops avoid the transformation to gravel?
Young lovers may part, a man leaving, setting out on some boat,
but who can say they’ll never come together again one day?
translated by David Hinton
hope always
Yes, because to lose hope is to give up on living.
This is one of my favorite poems. So glad you posted it today. It was one of the poems that hooked me on these Ancient fellas.
He is a favorite among many, along with Tu Fu, and Hinton really does him justice. Arthur Waley’s translations of him are also very good.