Forlorn and lonely, my time will never come;
Day after day, I return by myself in vain.
I wish to go away, to seek fragrant herbs,
But regret that I must leave an old friend behind.
On whom among those in power might I depend?
Few in this world hear the same music as I.
All I can do is keep to my lonely solitude,
And just close the gate of my old garden.
translated by Daniel Bryant
Meng Hao-jan
Spring Dreams by Meng Hao-jan
In spring, I dream through dawn,
but hear birds everywhere, singing.
O voice of all-night wind snd rain,
do you count the petals that are falling?
translated by Sam Hamill
Spring Dawn by Meng Hao-jan
Spring sleep, not yet awake to dawn,
I am full of birdsongs.
Throughout the night the sounds of wind and rain
Who knows what flowers fell.
translated by Gary Snyder
At the Pavilion on Grand-View Mountain, Sent to Chang Tzu-jung at Flourish Ridge by Meng Hao-jan
On the summit, sudden winds wild,
a cloud sails by like a startled bird.
Standing at the guardrail, I wonder:
is it old Chang coming back home?
translated by David Hinton
After Chang Yüan’s Clear Mirror Lament by Meng Hao-jan
This mirror of mine all coiled dragons:
its clarity was pure radiance every day,
then gathering the dust of this world
it soon blurred to a moon adrift in mist.
When grief comes, I look to that light,
but find only white hair and lament
and you in borderland distances. Tell me,
How could farewell go so long and far?
translated by David Hinton
Wandering the West Ridge at Phoenix-Grove Monastery by Meng Hao-jan
Savoring the year’s lovely bloom together,
we come wandering among water and rock.
Forest distances open through depths of mist,
colors of spring crowding recluse mountains,
and in wine our thoughts find such accord,
ch’in song filling these joys with idleness.
Don’t worry about dark roads. We’ll invite
old moon: always a friend for the way home.
translated by David Hinton
Spring Dawn by Meng Hao-jan
In spring sleep, dawn arrives unnoticed.
Suddenly, all around, I hear birds in song.
A loud night. Wind and rain came, tearing
blossoms down. Who knows few or many?
translated by David Hinton
Mooring on Chien-te River by Meng Hao-jan
The boat rocks at anchor by the misty island
Sunset, my loneliness comes again.
In these vast wilds the sky arches down to the trees,
In the clear river water, the moon draws near.
translated by Gary Snyder
Spring Dawn by Meng Hao-jan
Spring sleep, not yet awake to dawn,
I am full of birdsongs.
Throughout the night the sounds of wind and rain
Who knows what flowers fell.
translated by Gary Snyder
Spring Dawn by Meng Hao-jan
Sleeping in spring oblivious of dawn
everywhere I hear birds
after the wind and rain last night
I wonder how many petals fell
translated by Red Pine
Leonard Durso 