Li Po Poems

Li Po

You ask me, `Why dwell among green mountains?'

I laugh in silence; my soul is quiet.

Peach petals blow on mountain streams

To earths and skies beyond Humankind.

''By the North Gate, the wind blows full of sand,
Lonely from the beginning of time until now!
Trees fall, the grass goes yellow with autumn.'' Li Po (701-762), Chinese poet. Lament of the Frontier Guard (l. 1-3). . . Oxford Book of Verse in English Translation, The. Charles Tomlinson, ed....
 

 ''Ah, how shall you know the dreary sorrow at the North Gate,
With Li Po's name forgotten,
And we guardsmen fed to the tigers.'' Li Po (701-762), Chinese poet. Lament of the Frontier Guard (l. 21-23). . . Oxford Book of Verse in English Translation, The. Charles Tomlinson, e...


''I desired my dust to be mingled with yours
Forever and forever and forever.
Why should I climb the look out?'' Li Po (701-762), Chinese poet. The River Merchant's Wife; a Letter (l. 12-14). . . Norton Anthology of Poetry, The. Alexander W. Allison and other...


''At fourteen I married My Lord you.'' Li Po (701-762), Chinese poet. The River Merchant's Wife; a Letter (l. 7). . . Norton Anthology of Poetry, The. Alexander W. Allison and others, e...

Drinking Alone in the Moonlight

Li Po (c. 750, “translated” by Ezra Pound, 1915)

Amongst the flowers is a pot of wine I pour alone but with no friend at hand So I lift the cup to invite the shining moon, Along with my shadow we become party of three The moon although understands none of drinking, and The shadow just follows my body vainly Still I make the moon and the shadow my company To enjoy the springtime before too late The moon lingers while I am singing The shadow scatters while I am dancing We cheer in delight when being awake We separate apart after getting drunk Forever will we keep this unfettered friendship Till we meet again far in the Milky Way

 

(from Cathay, by Ezra Pound, 1915)

Waking from Drunkenness on a Spring Day

Li Po (c. 750, trans. Arthur Waley, 1919)

“Life in the World is but a big dream; I will not spoil it by any labour or care.” So saying, I was drunk all the day, Lying helpless at the porch in front of my door. When I woke up, I blinked at the garden-lawn; A lonely bird was singing amid the flowers. I asked myself, had the day been wet or fine? The Spring wind was telling the mango-bird. Moved by its song I soon began to sigh, And as wine was there I filled my own cup. Wildly singing I waited for the moon to rise; When my song was over, all my senses had gone.

 

In the Mountains on a Summer Day

Li Po (c. 750, trans. Arthur Waley, 1919)

Gently I stir a white feather fan, With open shirt sitting in a green wood. I take off my cap and hang it on a jutting stone; A wind from the pine-trees trickles on my bare head.

 

  Going To Visit Tao-T’ien Mountain’s Master
Of The Way Without Finding Him

A dog barks among the sounds of water.
Dew stains peach blossoms. In forests,
I sight a few deer, then at the creek,
hear nothing of midday temple bells.
Wild bamboo parts blue haze. A stream
hangs in flight beneath emerald peaks.
No one knows where you’ve gone. Still,
for rest, I’ve found two or three pines.

(translated by David Hinton)

  To Tu Fu From Shantang

You ask how I spend my time --
I nestle against a tree-trunk
and listen to autumn winds
in the pines all night and day.
Shantung wine can't get me drunk.
The local poets bore me.
My thoughts remain with you,
like the Wen River, endlessly flowing.

(translated by Sam Hamill)


 ..............................

 
The birds have vanished into the sky,
and now the last cloud drains away.
We sit together, the mountain and me,
until only the mountain remains.

(translated by Sam Hamill)