Li Shang-yin (813-858)

"The East Wind Sighs"

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The East wind sighs, the fine rains come:

Beyond the pool of water-lilies, the noise of faint thunder.

A gold toad gnaws the lock. Open it. Burn the incense.

A tiger of jade pulls the rope. Draw from the well and escape.

Chia's daughter peeped through the screen when Han the clerk was young.

The goddess of the river left her pillow for the great Prince of Wei.

Never let your heart open with the spring flowers:

One inch of love is an inch of ashes.

Gao Shi (702-765)

North Tower of Gold City
***** Gao Shi

From the north tower the western sky is clear,
Mountains joined by surging river better than painting.
Torrent's gush, swish flight of arrows,
Crescent moon over ramparts, bow arched taunt.
I dangle my fishing rod like old man Lu,
Strive for some tranqillity on the border.
But why so many brutal border wars?
Until now Tartar flutes complain without end.

Su Shi (1037-1101)

Visiting the Temple of Auspicious Fortune Alone on Winter Solstice
Su Shi

Deep at the bottom of the well no warmth has yet returned,
The rain which sighs and feels so cold has dampened withered roots.
What sort of man at such a time would come to visit the teacher?
As this is not a time for flowers, I find I've come alone.

Wang Wei (699-759)

Green-Water Stream



To reach the Yellow-Flowered River

Go by the Green-Water Stream.

A thousand twists and turns of mountain

But the way there can’t be many miles.

The sound of water falling over rocks

And deep colour among pines.

Gently green floating water-plants.

Bright the mirrored reeds and rushes.

I am a lover of true quietness.

Watching the flow of clear water

I dream of sitting on the uncarved rock

casting a line on the endless stream.



Note: The uncarved rock is the Tao. The endless stream is the Tao.

Song Zhiwen (c.660-710)

INSCRIBED ON THE WALL OF AN INN
NORTH OF DAYU MOUNTAIN



They say that wildgeese, flying southward,
Here turn back, this very month....
Shall my own southward journey
Ever be retraced, I wonder?
...The river is pausing at ebb-tide,
And the woods are thick with clinging mist --
But tomorrow morning, over the mountain,
Dawn will be white with the plum-trees of home.

Ki no Tsurayuki (872-945)

A cuckoo



A cuckoo to
A man on Pine Mount
Calls and so
Suddenly within me
Yearning overflows.


Ki no Tsurayuki

Su Tung P'o (1037-1101)

Battle of Red Cliff


The Yangtze flows east
Washing away
A thousand ages of great men
West of the ramparts --
People say --
Are the fabled Red Cliffs of young Chou of the Three Kingdoms
Rebellious rocks pierce the sky
Frightening waves rip the bank
The backwash churns vast snowy swells --
River and mountains like a painting
how many heroes passed them, once ...

Think back to those years, Chou Yu --
Just married to the younger Chiao --
Brave, brilliant
With plumed fan, silk kerchief
Laughed and talked
While masts and oars vanished to flying ash and smoke!
I roam through ancient realms
Absurdly moved
Turn gray too soon --
A man's life passes like a dream --
Pour out a cup then, to the river, and the moon

Ikyyu Sojun (1394-1481)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
One night . . . a pitiful -looking skeleton appeared and said these words:

A melancholy autumn wind
Blows through the world;
The pampas grass waves,
As we drift to the moor,
Drift to the sea.

What can be done
With the mind of a man
That should be clear
But though he is dressed up in a monk’s robe,
Just lets life pass him by?

Yang Wanli (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.


Yang Wanli