Staying the night at Summit-Top Temple,
you can reach out and touch the stars.
I venture no more than a low whisper,
afraid I’ll wake the people of heaven.
translated by David Hinton
Li Po (Li Bei)
Watching A White Falcon Set Loose by Li Po (Li Bei)
High in September’s frontier winds, white
brocade feathers, the Mongol falcon flies
alone, a flake of snow, a hundred miles
some fleeting speck of autumn in its eyes.
translated by David Hinton
On The Yo-Yang Tower With His Friend, Chia by Li Po (Li Bai)
Here from the tower we may view
The whole fair region of Yo-yang,
And the winding river
Opening into the Tung-ting Lake.
O wild geese, flying past,
Take away with you the sorrow of the heart!
And, come, thou mountain, give us thy happy moon!
Here will we sit to feast
And tarry a while with the clouds
And pass the cup high above the world of cares.
When we are goodly warm with wine,
Then, thou cooling breeze, arise!
Come and blow as we dance!
And our sleeves will flap like wings.
translated by Shigeyoshi Obata
Addressed Humorously to Tu Fu by Li Po (Li Bei)
Here! is this you on the top of Fan-ko Mountain,
Wearing a huge hat in the noon-day sun?
How thin, how wretchedly thin, you have grown!
You must have been suffering from poetry again.
translated by Shigeyoshi Obata
A Farewell Song Of White Clouds by Li Po (Li Bai)
The white clouds float over the mountains of Chu–
As over the mountains of Chin.
Everywhere the white clouds will follow you on.
They will follow you on everywhere–
With you they will enter the Chu mountains,
And cross the waters of the Hsiang.
Yonder across the waters of the Hsiang,
There is a cloak of ivy to wear,
And you may lie in a bed of white clouds.
Go swiftly home, O my friend!
translated by Shigeyoshi Obata
A Farewell To Meng Hao-jan On His Way To Yang-chou by Li Po (Li Bei)
You have left me behind, old friend, at 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
from An Exile’s Letter by Li Po (Li Bai)
What is the use of talking, and there is no end of talking,
There is no end of things in the heart.
I call in the boy,
Have him sit on his knees here
To seal this,
And send it a thousand miles, thinking.
translated by Ezra Pound
I Am A Peach Tree by Li Po (Li Bai)
I am a peach tree blossoming in a deep pit.
Who is there I may turn to and smile?
You are the moon up in the far sky;
Passing, you looked down on me an hour; then went on forever.
A sword with the keenest edge,
Could not cut the stream of water in twain
So that it would cease to flow.
My thought is like the stream; and flows and follows you on forever.
translated by Shigeyoshi Obata
The Blue Water by Li Po (Li Bai)
Blue is the water and clear the moon.
He is out on the South Lake,
Gathering white lilies.
The lotus flowers seem to whisper love,
And fill the boatman’s heart with sadness.
translated by Shigeyoshi Obata
On The Tung-ting Lake II by Li Po (Li Bei)
The autumn night is vaporless on the lake.
The swelling tide could bear us on to the sky.
Come, let us take the moonlight for our guide,
We’ll sail away and drink where the white clouds are!
translated by Shigeyoshi Obata
Leonard Durso 