From the side, a whole range; from the end, a single peak;
far, near, high, low, no two parts alike.
Why can’t I tell the true shape of Lu-shan?
Because I myself am in the mountain.
translated by Burton Watson
poetry
from Beginning of Autumn: A Poem to Send to Tzu-yu by Su Tung-p’o
and now when both of us are old—
too late to look for a lost road,
too late, I’m afraid, to study the Way.
This fall I began talks to buy some land;
if I build a house, it should be done by spring.
Nights at Snow Hall, in wind and rain,
already I hear you talking to me.
translated by Burton Watson
Pear Blossoms by the Eastern Palisade by Su Tung-p’o
Pear blossoms pale white, willows deep green—
when willow fluff scatters, falling blossoms will fill the town.
Snowy boughs by the eastern palisade set me pondering—
in a lifetime how many springs do we see?
translated by Burton Watson
Passing Our Old Place in Chaokuo Quarter by Wei Ying-wu
Passing our old home
I don’t see anyone I know
things have changed and the air feels warm
my heart suffers from the loneliness of the season
this pond is choked with wild bamboo
the courtyard is overgrown with unfamiliar plants
the wind scatters fading flowers
birds return to darkening hills
in the past we enjoyed this together
how strange to be recalling those times
her room in the eastern wing is closed
I can’t bear to look at the things she left
her calligraphy brush and writing kit
her perfumed scarf still damp
tools she left in her chest
pieces of silk she cut with her knife
I collected these things to bring back
but bringing them back would just cause more grief
parted forever from the joys we shared
why keep the traces she left behind
words can’t express something so dark
and to that distant place I can’t go
but the past and the present I think are one
and time soothes heartache and sorrow
translated by Red Pine
Cornelian Cherry by Orhan Veli Kanık
It gave its first fruit this year
Cornelian Cherry,
Three of them.
Next year it will give five.
Life is long,
We’ll wait.
What can it matter?
Bless you, Cornelian Cherry!
translated by George Messo
At Parting by Wang Wei
I dismount from my horse and I offer you wine,
And I ask you where you are going and why.
And you answer: “I am discontent
And would rest at the foot of the southern mountain.
So give me leave and ask no questions.
White clouds pass there without end.”
translated by Witter Bynner & Kiang Kang-hu
quote from Li Shang-yin
Literature endures like the universal spirit,
And its breath becomes a part of the vitals of all men.
translated by Witter Bynner & Kiang Kang-hu
A Brief but Happy Meeting with my Brother-in-law by Li Yi
After these ten torn wearisome years
We have met again. We were both so changed
That hearing first your surname, I thought you a stranger—
Then learning your given name, I remembered your young face . . .
All that has happened with the tides
We have told and told till the evening bell . . .
Tomorrow you journey to Yo-chou,
Leaving autumn between us, peak after peak.
translated by Witter Bynner & Kiang Kang-hu
On Hearing a Lute-player by Liu Chang-ch’ing
Your seven strings are like the voice
Of a cold wind in the pines,
Singing old beloved songs
Which no one cares for any more.
translated by Witter Bynner & Kiang Kang-hu
from Toward freedom by Orhan Veli Kanık
Can’t you see, freedom is everywhere.
Be the sail, the oar, the rudder, the fish, the sea.
Go wherever you can.
translated by George Messo
Leonard Durso 