All spring, my sorrows grew like lotus leaves.
Now they wither as my autumn sadness grows.
Grief is as long and wide as life.
Watch the autumn river. Listen to it flow.
translated by Sam Hamill
poetry
From the Heights by Li Shang-yin
I drag my heavy heart
up to these dazzling heights:
this beautiful, beautiful sunset!
And then the onrushing night.
translated by Sam Hamill
Empty House by Yuan Chen
I leave my empty house at dawn
and ride to my empty office.
I fill the day with busywork.
At nightfall, back to my empty house.
Moonlght seeps through the cracks.
My wick has burned to ash.
My heart lies cold inHsien-yang Road,
under the wheels of a hearse.
translated by Sam Hamill
Farewell Song by Ch’in Kuan
Faint clouds caress the mountains
where blue sky enters dry grass.
From the watchtower, a lone horn sounds.
Suddenly, I want to stop my little boat
and share a farewell cup of wine.
Our time together was a glimpse of paradise.
But it is futile to remember—
only the mist remains.
translated by Sam Hamill
From a Dream by Ch’in Kuan
Rain brings flowers to this road each spring,
flowers to paint the hills with colors.
I hike along a secret steam
Among a thousand yellow orioles.
Clouds take shapes of dragon and snake,
soaring, turning in the air.
I lie in wisteria shade, so drunk
I don’t even know directions.
translated by Sam Hamill
Letter Smuggled in a Fish by Yuan Chen
Your letter unfolds and unfolds forever.
I flatten it with my hands to read:
tearstrains, trarstrains and a trace of rouge
where it must have touched your cheek.
translated by Sam Hamill
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
Dreaming of My Wife by Yuan Chen
The candle burned out, my boat is windblown.
You ask about my southern sailing:
I sat awake all night in silence,
waves pounding on the lake.
translated by Sam Hamill
Bamboo Mat by Yuan Chen
I cannot bear to put away
the bamboo sleeping mat–
that first night I brought you home,
I watched you roll it out.
translated by Sam Hamill
Peach Blossoms by Yuan Chen
Infinite peach-blossom shades,
her rouged and powdered cheeks.
Spring breezes help her break my heart,
blowing peach petals from her dress.
translated by Sam Hamill
Leonard Durso 