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
Li Po (Li Bei)
A Sigh From A Staircase Of Jade by Li Po (Li Bai)
Her jade-white staircase is cold with dew;
Her silk soles are wet, she lingered there so long. . .
Behind her closed casement, why is she still waiting,
Watching through its crystal pane the glow of the autumn moon?
translated by Witter Bynner & Kiang Kang-hu
Conversation in the Mountains by Li Po (Li Bai)
If you were to ask me why I dwell among green mountains,
I should laugh silently; my soul serene.
The peach blossom follows the moving water;
There is another heaven and earth beyond the world of men.
translated by Robert Payne
Parting at a Wine-shop in Nan-king by Li Po
A wind, bringing willow-cotton, sweetens the shop,
And a girl from Wu, pouring wine, urges me to share it
With my comrades of the city who are here to see me off;
And as each of them drains his cup, I say to him in parting,
Oh, go and ask the river running to the east
If it can travel faster than a friend’s love!
translated by Witter Bynner & Kiang Kang-hu
from Hard Roads in Shu by Li Po (Li Bai)
. . .Though the City of Silk be delectable, I would rather turn home quickly.
Such traveling is harder than scaling the blue sky. . .
But I still face westward with a dreary moan.
translated by Witter Bynner & Kiang Kang-hu
Listening To Lu Tzu-hsün Play The Ch’in On A Moonlit Night by Li Po (Li Bai)
The night’s lazy, the moon bright. Sitting
here, a recluse plays his pale white ch’in,
and suddenly, as if cold pines were singing,
it’s all those harmonies of grieving wind.
Intricate fingers flurries of white snow,
empty thoughts emerald-water clarities:
No one understands now. Those who could
hear a song this deeply vanished long ago.
translated by David Hinton
Through The Yang-tsze Gorges by Li Po (Li Bai)
From the walls of Po-ti high in the coloured dawn
To Kiang-ling by night-fall is three hundred miles,
Yet monkeys are still calling on both banks behind me
To my boat these ten thousand mountains away.
translated by Witter Bynner & Kiang Kang-hu
A Farewell To Meng Hao-jan On His Way To Yang-chou by Li Po (Li Bai)
You have left me behind, old friend, at the Yellow Crane Terrace,
On your way to visit Yang-chou in the misty month of flowers;
Your sail, a single shadow, becomes one with the blue sky,
Till now I see only the river, on its way to heaven.
translated by Witter Bynner & Kiang Kang-hu
Endless Yearning: poem 2 by Li Po (Li Bai)
The sun has set, and a mist is in the flowers;
And the moon grows very white and people sad and sleepless.
A Chao harp has just been laid mute on its phoenix-holder,
And a Shu lute begins to sound its mandarin-duck strings. . .
Since nobody can bear to you the burden of my song,
Would that it might follow the spring wind to Yen-jan Mountain.
I think of you far away, beyond the blue sky,
And my eyes that once were sparkling
Are now a well of tears.
. . .Oh, if ever you should doubt this aching of my heart,
Here in my bright mirror come back and look at me!
translated by Witter Bynner & Kiang Kang-ho
Endless Yearning: poem 1 by Li Po (Li Bai)
I am endlessly yearning
To be in Ch’ang-an.
. . .Insects hum of autumn by the gold brim of the well;
A thin frost glistens like little mirrors on my cold mat;
The high lantern flickers; and deeper grows my longing.
I lift the shade and, with many a sigh, gaze upon the moon,
Single as a flower, centered from the clouds.
Above, I see the blueness and deepness of sky.
Below, I see the greenness and the restlessness of water. . .
Heaven is high, earth wide; bitter between them flies my sorrow.
Can I dream through the gateway, over the mountain?
Endless longing
Breaks my heart.
translated by Witter Bynner & Kiang Kang-ho
Leonard Durso 