Friday, January 17, 2020
AFTER THE CHINESE MASTERS
AFTER SOME LINES
BY CHENG HSIEH
A dog barks
at the falling stars
and wind darkens
the distant sound of flute.
~
REARRANGING SOME LINES
OF "IN THE WILDS, A DEAD DOE"
FROM THE SHIH CHING
She is urgent
as spring, pretty
as jade. She is
ready for you,
but go slow. Don't
make the dogs bark.
~
REARRANGING SOME LINES
FROM CHU YAUN'S "LAMENT FOR
YING" IN "THE NINE DECLARATIONS"
OF THE CH'U TZ-U
I follow the wind,
follow the stream,
my heart knotted,
leaving home.
~
REARRANGING SOME LINES
FROM "WALK ON WALK ON AGAIN"
IN THE YUEH-FU'S NINETEEN
ANCIENT POEMS
A wanderer
doesn't arrive,
doesn't return.
Thinking of you
has made me old.
And suddenly
it's evening.
~
AFTER SOME LINES
FROM "O HEAVENS!"
OF THE YUEH-FU
FROM THE HAN DYNASTY
When the mountains
wear down,
when the rivers
dry up,
when winter
thunders
and it snows
in summer,
when you can't tell
earth from sky,
only then
would I leave you.
~
BY CHENG HSIEH
A dog barks
at the falling stars
and wind darkens
the distant sound of flute.
~
REARRANGING SOME LINES
OF "IN THE WILDS, A DEAD DOE"
FROM THE SHIH CHING
She is urgent
as spring, pretty
as jade. She is
ready for you,
but go slow. Don't
make the dogs bark.
~
REARRANGING SOME LINES
FROM CHU YAUN'S "LAMENT FOR
YING" IN "THE NINE DECLARATIONS"
OF THE CH'U TZ-U
I follow the wind,
follow the stream,
my heart knotted,
leaving home.
~
REARRANGING SOME LINES
FROM "WALK ON WALK ON AGAIN"
IN THE YUEH-FU'S NINETEEN
ANCIENT POEMS
A wanderer
doesn't arrive,
doesn't return.
Thinking of you
has made me old.
And suddenly
it's evening.
~
AFTER SOME LINES
FROM "O HEAVENS!"
OF THE YUEH-FU
FROM THE HAN DYNASTY
When the mountains
wear down,
when the rivers
dry up,
when winter
thunders
and it snows
in summer,
when you can't tell
earth from sky,
only then
would I leave you.
~
