Su Tung Po (1037-1101)

Pu suan tzu


A fragment moon hangs from the bare tung tree
The water clock runs out, all is still
Who sees the dim figure come and go alone
Misty, indistinct, the shadow of a lone wild goose?

Startled, she gets up, looks back
With longing no one sees
And will not settle on any of the cold branches
Along the chill and lonely beach

Su Tung-po

Wang Wei (699-759)

Chungnan



Middle-aged now, following the Way.

Settled at evening near the Chungnan slopes.

Delight, and I wander off by myself

Searching for what I need to see alone.

I climb up to the roots of the streams,

Sit and watch the White Clouds pass,

Meet the old man of the woods,

Talk and laugh, forget to go home.

Yang Wan-li (1127-1206)

Cold Sparrows

Hundreds of cold sparrows dive into the empty courtyard,
cluster on plum branches and speak of sun after rain at dusk.
They choose to gather en masse and kill me with noise.
Suddenly startled, they disperse. Then, soundlessness.

Li Po (Li Bai 701-762)

Before The Cask of Wine



The spring wind comes from the east and quickly passes,
Leaving faint ripples in the wine of the golden bowl.
The flowers fall, flake after flake, myriads together.

You, pretty girl, wine-flushed,
Your rosy face is rosier still.
How long may the peach and plum trees flower
By the green-painted house?
The fleeting light deceives man,
Brings soon the stumbling age.

Rise and dance
In the westering sun
While the urge of youthful years is yet unsubdued!
What avails to lament after one's hair has turned white
like silken threads?


Li Po

Xue Tao (768-831)

Sending Old Poems to Yuan Zhen

Everyone writes poems in their own manner
but only I know delicacy of wind and light,
and when writing of flowers in moonlight, lean towards the
dark.
Of a willow in rainy dawn I write how twigs hang down.
They say green jade should stay hidden deep,
but I write candidly on red-lined paper.
I'm old now but can't stop writing
so I open myself to you as if I were a good man.

Wang Han (678-740)

A SONG OF LIANGZHOU
By Tang Poet Wang Han
Translated by Laijon Liu

Tasteful grape wine
Shining in my jade cup
That sparks the night.

Let’s drink off
On our horse
In the harmony of our guitars.

Oh you, please do not laugh
If we all get drunk
And fall asleep in the battlefield,

Since ancient time,
How few come back
From the campaigns and wars?

Note: Guitar is actually six string instrument call Pipa.

Li Qiao (c. Tang Dynasty)

Wind
Li Qiao

In the third month of autumn it blows down the leaves,
It can open up the second month's flowers.
On the river, waves of a thousand feet,
Among the bamboo, ten thousand dry and slanting.

Lady Akazome Emon (956-1041)

Better to have slept
Care-free, than to keep vain watch
Through the passing night,
Till I saw the lonely moon
Traverse her descending path.

Po Chu-i (772-846)

After Lunch

After lunch–one short nap;
On waking up–two cups of tea.
Raising my head, I see the sun’s light
Once again slanting to the southwest.
Those who are happy regret the shortness of the day;
Those who are sad tire of the year’s sloth.
But those whose hearts are devoid of joy or sadness
Just go on living, regardless of ’short’ or ’long’.