Dawn Over the Mountains
The city is silent,
Sound drains away,
Buildings vanish in the light of dawn,
Cold sunlight comes on the highest peak,
The thick dust of night
Clings to the hills,
The earth opens,
The river boats are vague,
The still sky--
The sound of falling leaves.
A huge doe comes to the garden gate,
Lost from the herd,
Seeking its fellows.
Tu Fu (translation Kenneth Rexroth)
Tu Fu lived in the T'ang Dynasty (713-770) but his poems, as translated by Rexroth, still speak to me. I've had the little paperback One Hundred Poems from the Chinese of Rexroth's translations since a student loaned me a copy about fifty years ago, when I was teaching at Berkeley Prep and wearing heels and pantyhose everyday. Those are gone, thank goodness, but the poems stay at my bedside.
4 comments:
I like the dicentra.
I always find poetry difficult, especially on blogs, as I find it difficult to slow down appropriately. This is one of my many failings.
Not a failing, AC. Just a different response. I'm not a fan of various forms of music--but I don't think of it as a failing.
Thanks for introducing me to another poet. I'm finding a few poems each morning really help my mood.
This is the most beautiful spring I remember from all my 25 years in WNC. Maybe all that rain was good for something after all....
Deana the Queena
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