Seafarers tell of a magic island
Hard to find in the vague expanse
of mist and towering waves.
In Yue men talk of the Lady of Heaven
Glimpsed by chance, dissolving and glowing,
amid the rainbows and clouds.
The Lady of Heaven, joining the heavens,
faces the Heavenly Span,
Her majesty conquers the Five Summits
and shadows Vermilion Wall
Heavenly Terrace rises up forty-eight thousand staves,
Yet tips southeast before her as if it wanted to fall.
Wanting to probe the mystery in a dream of Wu and Yue,
Through a night I flew across the moon on Mirror Lake.
The moon on the lake projected my shadow,
Escorting me to the River Shan.
The place where Duke Xie once retired
stands to the present day;
The lucent waters swiftly purl and
shrill-voiced gibbons cry.
Feet in Duke Xie's cleated clogs
I climbed the ladder of clouds in the blue.
From the slope I could see the sun in the ocean;
A thousand cliffs, ten thousand turns,
a road I cannot define;
Dazzled by flowers, I rest on a stone
and darkness suddenly falls.
Bears grumbling, dragons humming,
fountains rumbling on the mountainside
Quaking before a deep forest
Frightened by impending spires
Green, green the gum trees. On the verge of rain
Rough, rough the river Breaking in spray.
Flashing, cracking, roaring, clapping,
Hills and ridges crumble and fall
The stone gates of the Grotto Heavens
Boom and crash as they open wide
The Blue Dark is a rolling surge,
where bottom cannot be seen,
Where sun and moon throw glittering light
on platforms of silver and gold.
The rainbows are his clothing His horses are the wind.
The Lord Within the Clouds appears
All things swirl as he descends.
Tigers strumming zithers Coaches phoenix drawn
The immortals now assemble. Arrayed like hemp in rows.
With the suden excitement of my soul,
my vital force is roused;
I rise distraught and startled, long and drawn my sighs.
There is only the pillow and mat on waking;
Gone are the mists of a moment ago.
The pleasures found within man's world
are also just this way;
All life's affairs since ancient times
are an easterly flowing stream.
Parting now I leave you When shall I return?
Let us set the white deer free
within the blue-green shores;
When I must go, I shall ride away to visit peaks of renown.
How could I ever furrow my brow and bend my back
in service of rank and power?
To hurry the pleasures of love and wine
wilts man's youth away.
Hard to find in the vague expanse
of mist and towering waves.
In Yue men talk of the Lady of Heaven
Glimpsed by chance, dissolving and glowing,
amid the rainbows and clouds.
The Lady of Heaven, joining the heavens,
faces the Heavenly Span,
Her majesty conquers the Five Summits
and shadows Vermilion Wall
Heavenly Terrace rises up forty-eight thousand staves,
Yet tips southeast before her as if it wanted to fall.
Wanting to probe the mystery in a dream of Wu and Yue,
Through a night I flew across the moon on Mirror Lake.
The moon on the lake projected my shadow,
Escorting me to the River Shan.
The place where Duke Xie once retired
stands to the present day;
The lucent waters swiftly purl and
shrill-voiced gibbons cry.
Feet in Duke Xie's cleated clogs
I climbed the ladder of clouds in the blue.
From the slope I could see the sun in the ocean;
A thousand cliffs, ten thousand turns,
a road I cannot define;
Dazzled by flowers, I rest on a stone
and darkness suddenly falls.
Bears grumbling, dragons humming,
fountains rumbling on the mountainside
Quaking before a deep forest
Frightened by impending spires
Green, green the gum trees. On the verge of rain
Rough, rough the river Breaking in spray.
Flashing, cracking, roaring, clapping,
Hills and ridges crumble and fall
The stone gates of the Grotto Heavens
Boom and crash as they open wide
The Blue Dark is a rolling surge,
where bottom cannot be seen,
Where sun and moon throw glittering light
on platforms of silver and gold.
The rainbows are his clothing His horses are the wind.
The Lord Within the Clouds appears
All things swirl as he descends.
Tigers strumming zithers Coaches phoenix drawn
The immortals now assemble. Arrayed like hemp in rows.
With the suden excitement of my soul,
my vital force is roused;
I rise distraught and startled, long and drawn my sighs.
There is only the pillow and mat on waking;
Gone are the mists of a moment ago.
The pleasures found within man's world
are also just this way;
All life's affairs since ancient times
are an easterly flowing stream.
Parting now I leave you When shall I return?
Let us set the white deer free
within the blue-green shores;
When I must go, I shall ride away to visit peaks of renown.
How could I ever furrow my brow and bend my back
in service of rank and power?
To hurry the pleasures of love and wine
wilts man's youth away.