In previous discussions like this, I've recommended Wendell Berry (try "to Know the Dark" or "Sabbath 1989: 1") and Patiann Rogers (try "Achieving Perspective" or "Justification of the Horned Lizard"). Today, let's go with Li Bai, translated by Arthur Cooper:
The Waterfall on Lu Mountain
When, west, I climbed Incense Brazier Peak
I southward saw curtained cataracts
Suspend their stream some three thousand feet
Then roar through dales several miles away;
Sudden as if flying lightning came,
But mystic too, as white rainbows rose:
At first I feared Milky Way had dropped,
And sprinkled stars, falling through the clouds.
As I looked up they increased in force
So mighty was the creator's work:
An ocean wind blew there without cease.
The river moon gave skies back their light
Skies in which random torrents rushed;
To left and right green walls were washed
By flying pearls scattering light mist
And streaming foam boiling round great rocks!
Let me travel to those glorious peaks
Where I may feel peace grow in my heart.
I'll have no need more for magic draughts
For I may there wash dust from my face
And enjoy there lodging that I love
Ever parted from the world of men.
@Sara
Thank you Sara. was very beautiful poems 🌸👌🏻😊
What (I) said (you) heard, not paid attention; what (I) wrote (you) read and erased
(I am) mountain when I stop; (I am) beyond life when I walk
In English:
Do not waste (your) half drawn arrow, (I have already) lost (broken pieces of my) heart.
Collect and save the left-over stones, (my) injured or wounded body is (already) wasted
Let my health giver know, let the procession of foes know
He whose soul was indebted has settled his dues today
Keep the burial shroud atilt on (my) forehead, lest my assassin may have misgivings
(that) Pride of self-importance or arrogance of love, I forgot after death.
