Evening Sitting in the Wo-chih Studio by Yang Wan-li

The room is stuffy and uncomfortable:
I open a window to let in the cool air.
Forest trees shade the sunlight;
the inkstone on my desk glitters jade green.
My hand reaches naturally for a book of poetry
and I read some poems out loud.

The ancients had a mountain of sorrows
but my heart is as calm as a river.
If I am different from them,
how is it that they move me so deeply?

The feeling passes and I laugh to myself.
Outside a cicada urges on the sunset.

translated by Jonathan Chaves

2 thoughts on “Evening Sitting in the Wo-chih Studio by Yang Wan-li

  1. Thanks for the kind likes and comments. I need to post more. It’s been awhile. This poem though is so true. Calm as a river but drawn to poetry all adrift. Well, I woke up laughing so it had its effect. Can’t remember now why I was laughing…

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