In the Bamboo Grove

So Far Away Your wife dies, your mother dies, you feel so, so alone in the world. And so, you’ve got to get away from the insincere well-wishers, the never-ending condolences, and what is worse, the internal thoughts that nag at you and never go away. Away, for Wang Wei, was hidden away in a…

Farewell, Wang Wei

Translation Note. Songbie, 送别, “Farewell.” Sometimes translated as “Parting Song.”Wang Wei does not identify Nanshan, literally, southern mountains. Likely they are nearby Zhongnan Mountains, sometimes called the Taiyi Mountains, just to the south of the war torn capital of Chang’an. Zhōng nán shān, 終南山. (But see note below.) Dismount while I offer you some wine,I…

Leaving Wang Wei

Leaving Wang Wei Meng Haoran and Wang Wei were 8 century landscape poets who shared a deep friendship. Meng was older by a decade, but Wang Wei was the more successful of the two. The two met in Chang’an, the capital, where Meng had come to take the Imperial Examination. Failing to pass, Meng sadly…

In a Bamboo Grove, 竹裏館

Sitting alone, somewhere in a bamboo grovePlucking on a zither, whistling alongDeep in the forest, where I can’t be foundAt least, not until the bright moon shines I Want to be Alone We’re social critters who need to be strongly connected with other people. But, as every poet knows, solitude can be just as important….

Farewell to Yuan on his Second Mission to Anxi

In Weicheng the morning rain wets the dust
The guesthouse is green, the color of new willow
Let me urge you, drink up

Wangchuan

whistling rain, gurgling water on a rocky shore, egrets rising and falling in crashing waves

who, where, and why?

Wang Wei, a parting with a friend who is going to the Southern Mountains

Farmhouse on the Wei River, Wang Wei 王 維

Wei River Farmhouse The light at dusk cast shadows on the old grave stones The ox and sheep return down the shabby lane In the field an old shepherd reads to his son Leaning on a cane, waiting at the thorny entrance In the wheat stocks, I hear the crow of a ringed neck pheasant…

Gao Shi – To Vice-prefects Li and Wang, Disgraced and Banished to Xiazhong and Changsha

What are you thinking as we part, Reign in your horse, drink from this cup while we speak of disgrace When Wu Gorge howls and the monkeys weep, Will the wildgoose return to Hengyang with a royal decree?…. In autumn, the green maples on the river are fading away,In Baidi, it rains and the trees…

My Gift to Wanglun – Li Bai

My Gift to Wanglun As I, Li Bai, was about to leave by boatAlas, I heard singing on the shoreThough a thousand feet deep, Peach Blossom Lake may be,It compares not to Wang’s kinship to me. Original Chinese Characters 赠汪伦 李白乘舟将欲行忽闻岸上踏歌声桃花潭水深千尺不及汪伦送我行 Pinyin lǐ bái chéng zhōu jiāngyù xíng hū wén ànshàng tà gēshēng táohuātán shuǐshēn…