Old though I am
I still offer gifts–
these jewel tears–
to the year that greets me
and the year that departs
translated by Hiroaki Sato & Burton Watson
poetry
Anchored on Ch’in-huai River by Tu Mu
Mist mantling cold waters, and moonlight shoreline sand,
we anchor overnight near a wine-house entertaining guests.
A nation lost in ruins; knowing nothing of that grief, girls
sing Courtyard Blossoms. Their voices drift across the river.
translated by David Hinton
Unsent by Tu Mu
Distant clouds, trees deep into mist,
autumn bathed in a river’s clarity.
Where is she tonight, so beautiful?
Moonlight floods the mountaintops.
translated by David Hinton
An Argument by Thomas Moore
I’ve oft been told by learned friars,
That wishing and the crime are one,
And Heaven punishes desires
As much as if the deed were done.
If wishing damns us, you and I
Are damned to all our heart’s content;
Come, then, at least we may enjoy
Some pleasure for our punishment!
A Drinking Song by W.B. Yeats
Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That’s all we know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.
I may have posted this before but feel the urge to post it once again.
On Yellow-Crane Tower, Farewell to Meng Hao-jan Who’s Leaving for Yang-chou by Li Po
From Yellow-Crane Tower, my old friend leaves the west.
Downstream to Yang-chou, late spring a haze of blossoms,
distant glints of lone sail vanish into emerald-green air:
nothing left but a river flowing on the borders of heaven.
translated by David Hinton
from Gazing at the Thatch-Hut Mountain Waterfall by Li Po
Here, after wandering among these renowned
mountains, the heart grows rich with idleness.
Why talk of cleansing elixirs of immortality?
Here, the world’s dust rinsed from my face,
I’ll stay close to what I’ve always loved,
content to leave that peopled world forever.
translated by David Hinton
from The Golestan by Sa’di
I held in my hand a perfumed piece of clay
that came to me from a beloved’s hand.
I asked it, “Are you musk or ambergris?
Like fine wine, your smell intoxicates me.”
“I was,” it said, “a loathsome lump of clay
till someone set me down beside a rose.
Then my companion’s scent seeped into me.
Otherwise, I am only the earth I am.”
courtesy of my friend Richard Newman
The River Han by Tu Mu
Rich and full, all surging swells and white gulls in flight,
it flows springtime deep, its green a crystalline dye for robes.
Going south and coming back north, you grow older, older.
Late light lingers, farewell to a fishing boat bound for home.
translated by David Hinton
Seeing Off Magistrate Han of Loyang on His Trip East by Wei Ying-wu
This bird of the immortals born for the wind
with turquoise lapels and robe of green
regards my feathers as peculiar
as I twitter away thinking I can sing
we flew back and forth across Loyang
amusing ourselves along crystal streams
friendship with the gods wasn’t meant to be
but happiness filled our hearts
now you’re leaving on a distant mission
on a long dark road through the clouds
but we can still drink and enjoy this day
and sleep tonight among different trees
I’ve paid for lodging east of the city
and spread out a feast in the shade of the wall
as I lift this wine and wish you well
the sadness I feel makes it seem heavy
translated by Red Pine
Leonard Durso 