a third translation of Reading Yuan Chen on a Boat by Po Chu-i

By candlelight, I read your poems.
It is almost dawn when I finish.

I rub my weary eyes
beside the guttering candle.

I sit motionless
in the predawn dark,

listening to the wind-driven waves
lapping at the bow.

translated by Sam Hamill

6 thoughts on “a third translation of Reading Yuan Chen on a Boat by Po Chu-i

    • Thank you. I used to have the Burton Watson translation on my corkboard by my desk, mainly because it was the first one I read. But they are all beautifully sad.

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