Han Shan (8 AD)

I spur my horse through the wrecked town,

The wrecked town sinks my spirit.

High, low, old parapet walls

Big, small, the aging tombs.

I waggle my shadow, all alone;

Not even the crack of a shrinking coffin is heard.

I pity all those ordinary bones,

In the books of the Immortals they are nameless.

Saigyo (1118-1190)

How wonderful


How wonderful, that
Her heart
Should show me kindness;
And of all the numberless folk,
Grief should not touch me.

Saigyo

Taigu Ryokan (1758-1831)

Blending With The Wind


Blending with the wind,
Snow falls;
Blending with the snow,
The wind blows.
By the hearth
I stretch out my legs,
Idling my time away
Confined in this hut.
Counting the days,
I find that February, too,
Has come and gone
Like a dream.

Taigu Ryokan

Li Qingzhao (1084-1155)

The migrant songbird on the bough wet with dew
brings tears to my eyes with her melodious trills—
this fresh downpour rewetting the stains of older spills;
another spring gone, and still no word from you ...

Hui Yuan (334-416)

Lushan Outing
Hui Yuan

Sublime crags
spit out pristine Qi,
In remote alpine cave
traces of marvelous practice.
I fancy I hear
sounds of ancient pipes,
Flowing from the mountain
in a light rain.
Only this traveler
alone in shadowy netherworld,
Along the path
I shed worldly cares.
Wave my hands high
grasp Cloud Gate,
A numinous barrier
silently penetrated.
My beating heart
knock, knock, knock'in
on Heaven's Door,
I savor its elixer within me.
Gallop to Seventh Heaven,
Effortlessly soaring on high.
What fun to be one
with this subtle universe,
In a flash
I comprehend
the Three Mysteries.

Li Po (701-762)

Ancient Air


I climb up high and look on the four seas,
Heaven and earth spreading out so far.
Frost blankets all the stuff of autumn,
The wind blows with the great desert's cold.
The eastward-flowing water is immense,
All the ten thousand things billow.
The white sun's passing brightness fades,
Floating clouds seem to have no end.
Swallows and sparrows nest in the wutong tree,
Yuan and luan birds perch among jujube thorns.
Now it's time to head on back again,
I flick my sword and sing Taking the Hard Road.

Li Po

Yang Wan-li (1127-1206)

Listening to the Rain

A year ago my boat, homeward bound,
moored at Yen-ling -
I was kept awake all night by the rain
beating against the sails.
Last night the rain fell on the thatched roof
of my house.
I dreamed of the sound of rain
beating against the sails.

Chia Tao (779-843)

Abode of the Unplanned Effect

The grass-covered path
is secluded and still,
A closed door faces
the Chungnan Mountains??

In the evening the air’s chilly
but the light rain stops,
At dawn, far off,
a few cicadas start

Leaves fall
where no green earth remains
a person at his ease
wears a plain robe

With simplicity and plainness
his original nature still,
what need to practice
“calming of the heart”

Ho Xuan Huong (1772-1822)

Day and Night


Peekaboo we used to play;
my hands covered my face,
your hands covered your face,
incredible, there we were gone.

That is what we play now, your
hands on my face and my hands
on your eyes. Incredible
how we disappear into each other.

Ho Xuan Huong