Blue water
burning moon
on South Lake
he gathers lilies
the lotus flowers
whisper
the lone boatman
sighs
translated by David Young
Chinese poet
Autumn Lines by Li Po (Li Bai)
Clean fall wind
clear fall moon
leaves heaped by the wind
leaves scattered
a cold raven
flaps slowly
from his roost
thoughts of you
fill my head
will I ever
see you again?
the ache
around my heart
gets bigger
translated by David Young
Jade Steps Pliant by Hsieh T’iao
Palace at dusk, the pearl blind is lowered,
Drifting fireflies glide and come to rest;
Through the long night I sew a fine silk jacket–
My thoughts of you, when will they end?
translated by Ronald C. Miao
A Spring Song of Tzu-yeh by Hsiao Yen
On the stairway fragrance assails the bosom;
In the garden flowers light the eye.
Once the spring heart is like this,
Love comes without bounds.
translated by Jan W. Walls
In Imitation of Hsü Kan (“Since You Went Away”) by Liu Chün
Since you went away
Gold and green hairpins have lost their glint.
My longing thoughts of you, like sun and moon,
Circling round and round, rise day and night.
translated by Jan W. Walls
“The Weary Road” Two Sections: Section 2 by Pao Chao
Have you not seen the grasses on the riverbank?
They wither and die in winter, overspread the road in spring.
Have you not seen the sun above the city wall?
It grows dim, sinks, and disappears;
The next day it will come out again.
Now, at what time in my life can I be like this?
Once gone, I’ll forever perish in the Yellow Spring!
Life is full of bitterness and scant in joy;
To be high-sprited belongs to the prime of life.
There’ll always be money at my bedside to buy wine.
To be immortalized in bamboo or silk is not what I want:
Life or death, honor or debasement, I leave to heaven.
translated by Irving Y. Lo
“The Weary Road” Two Sections: Section One by Pao Chao
Water spilled on level ground
Runs east, west, south or north, and whichever way it pleases.
A man’s life is also governed by fate,
Then why must we always sigh as we journey and grieve as we sit?
Drink your wine to please yourself;
Raise your cup and forswear singing “The Weary Road.”
But since a man’s heart isn’t wood or stone,
How could it be without feeling?
Thus I weep, I hesitate, I dare not speak.
translated by Irving Y. Lo
Song of Woe by Shen Yüeh
The wanderer was in love with the spring of the year
And the spring in love with the wanderer.
Languid sunbeams in the morning draped their splendor,
Gentle dew at dawn lay frozen by the ford.
Seasonal bird songs lilted through the new=grown leaves
While scented airs were stirring in the early duckweed.
Then one morning found me far from my old home,
Ten thousand li had come between me and that dawn.
translated by Richard B. Mather
from Deva-like Barbarian, Five Lyrics: Lyric Five by Wei Chunang
Spring is bright and splendid in the city of Lo-yang;
But the man of Lo-yang grows old in another land.
The willows darken on the Prince of Wei’s embankment;
At this time I am confused and bewildered.
Alongside the blossoming peach, the spring waters run clear;
Mandarin ducks bathe in their freshness.
My regret gathers force in the setting sun;
I think of you, but you do not know it.
translated by Lois M. Fusek
Spring Ends by Li Ch’ing-chao
The wind stops.
Nothing is left of Spring but fragrant dust.
Although it is late in the day,
I have been too exhausted to comb my hair.
Our furniture is just the same,
But he no longer exists.
I am unable to do anything at all,
Before I can speak my tears choke me.
I hear that Spring at Two Rivers
Is still beautiful.
I had hoped to take a boat there,
But I am afraid my little boat
Is too small to ever reach Two Rivers,
Laden with my heavy heart.
translated by Kenneth Rexroth & Ling Chung
Leonard Durso 