Short Poems

BY LI T'AI-PO

In Yang Chou, the blossoms are dropping. The night-jar calls.
I hear it said that you are going to Lung Piao — that you will cross the Five Streams.
I fling the grief of my heart up to the bright moon
That it may follow the wind and arrive, straight as eyesight, to the West of Yeh Lang.

BY LI T'AI-PO

The Autumn wind is fresh and clear;
The Autumn moon is bright.
Fallen leaves whirl together and scatter.
The jackdaws, who have gone to roost, are startled again.
We are thinking of each other, but when shall we see each other?
Now, to-night, I suffer, because of my passion.

BY LI T'AI-PO

Old Tai is gone down to the Yellow Springs.
Yet he must still wish to make " Great Spring Wine. "
There is no Li Po on the terrace of Eternal Darkness.
To whom, then, will he sell his wine?

BY LI T'AI-PO

Chia, the Scholar, gazes into the West, thinking of the splendour of the Capitol.
Although you have been transferred to the broad reaches of the river Hsiang, you must not sigh in resentment.
The mercy of the Sainted Lord is far greater than that of Han Wên Ti.
The Princely One had pity, and did not appoint you to the station of the Unending Sands.

To put out the word, whore, thou dost me woo,
Throughout my book. 'Troth put out woman too.

When men a dangerous disease did 'scape
Of old, they gave a cock to Aesculape.
Let me give two, that doubly am got free
From my disease's danger, and from thee.

"Why of the sheep do you not learn peace?'
"Because I don't want you to shear my fleece.'

When a man has married a wife, he finds out whether
Her knees and elbows are only glued together.

When I was down beside the sea
A wooden spade they gave to me
To dig the sandy shore.

My holes were empty like a cup.
In every hole the sea came up,
Till it could come no more.

Some sneer; some snigger; some simper;
In the youth where we laughed, and sang.
And they may end with a whimper
But we will end with a bang.