poetry

To A Traveler by Su Tung P’o

/ zdunno03 / 8 Comments

Last year when I accompanied you
As far as the Yang Chou Gate,
The snow was flying, like white willow cotton.
This year, Spring has come again,
And the willow cotton is like snow.
But you have not come back.
Alone before the open window,
I raise my wine cup to the shining moon.
The wind, moist with evening dew,
Blows the gauze curtains.
Maybe Chang-O the moon goddess,
Will pity this single swallow
And join us together with a cord of light
That reaches beneath the painted eaves of your home.

translated by Kenneth Rexroth

All Of A Sudden by Orhan Veli Kanik

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Everything happened all of a sudden.
All of a sudden daylight beat down on the earth;
There was the sky all of a sudden;
All of a sudden steam began to rise from the soil.
There were tendrils all of a sudden, buds all of a sudden.
And there were fruits all of a sudden.
All of a sudden,
All of a sudden,
Girls all of a sudden, boys all of a sudden.
Roads, moors, cats, people. . .
And there was love all of a sudden,
Happiness all of a sudden.

translated  by Anil Mericelli

 

 

Moon, Flowers, Man by Su Tung P’o

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I raise my cup and invite
The moon to come down from the
Sky. I hope she will accept
Me. I raise my cup and ask
The branches, heavy with flowers,
To drink with me. I wish them
Long life and promise never
To pick them. In company
With the moon and the flowers,
I get drunk, and none of us
Ever worries about good
Or bad. How many people
Can comprehend our joy? I
Have wine and moon and flowers.
Who else do I want for drinking companions?

translated by Kenneth Rexroth

If Only I Could Set Sail by Orhan Veli Kanik

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How pleasant, oh dear God, how pleasant
To journey on the blue sea
To cast off from shore
Aimless as thought.

I would set sail to the wind
And wander from sea to sea
To find myself one morning
In some deserted bay.

In a harbor large and clean
A harbor in coral isles
Where in the wake of clouds
A golden summer trails.

The languid scent of oleasters
Would fill me there
And the taste of sorrow
Never find that place.

Sparrows would nest in the flowered
Eaves of my dream castle
The evenings would unravel with colors
The days pass in pomengrate gardens.

translated by Ozcan Yalim, William Fielder, and Dionis Coffin Riggs

Snow Storm by Tu Fu

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Tumult, weeping, many new ghosts.
Heartbroken, aging, alone, I sing
To myself. Ragged mist settles
In the spreading dusk. Snow skurries
In the coiling wind. The wineglass
Is spilled. The bottle is empty.
The fire has gone out in the stove.
Everywhere men speak in whispers.
I brood on the uselessness of letters.

translated by Kenneth Rexroth

Clear After Rain by Tu Fu

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Autumn, cloud blades on the horizon.
The west wind blows from ten thıousand miles.
Dawn, in the early morning air,
Farmers busy after a long rain.
The desert trees shed their few good leaves.
The mountain pears are tiny but ripe.
A tartar flute plays by the city gate.
A single wild goose climbs into the void.

translated by Kenneth Rexroth

Passing by a Mountain Village: Evening by Chang Yu

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For several miles I have heard the chill waters,
Homes in the mountain, no one else around–
Strange birds scream over the broad plain;
The setting sun puts fear into the traveler’s heart.
A new moon before the twilight’s gone,
Beacons of war never come this far–
There in the gloom beyond the mulberries
Are home fires to which I gradually draw closer.

translated by Stephen Owen

from Song of WaterClock at Night: Lyric 2 by Wen T’ing-yün

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A goldfinch in my hair,
My cheek’s brightly rouged,
For one brief moment we met among flowers.
You understood my heart,
And tender was your love.
Only Heaven knew the joy we shared.

The incense turns to ashes,
The candle dissolves in tears;
How like our innermost feelings for one another.
The peaked pillow is smeared,
The brocade covers cold,
When waking I find the water clock has stopped.

translated by William R. Schultz