Farewell to a Lofty Monk
Farewell to a Lofty Monk
Liu Changqing (709-785)
A lofty cloud has met a common crane,
But how to live together in this land?
Don’t stay out here, though filled with fertile hills,
So many know this place, like grains of sand.
| Chinese 送上人 劉長卿 孤雲將野鶴 豈向人間住 莫買沃洲山 時人已知處 | Pronunciation |
The Lute Player
The Lute Player
Liu Changqing (709-785)
As water flows, your lute of seven strings . . .
I hear the wind between the winter pines.
You pull an ancient tune that, though I love,
The players now can hardly play the lines.
| Chinese 彈琴 劉長卿 泠泠七絃上 靜聽松風寒 古調雖自愛 今人多不彈 | Pronunciation Dàn Qín |
Sending Off Ling Che
Sending Off Ling Che
Liu Changqing (709-785)
A temple in the vast green bamboo grove
Resounds its bell within the depth and dusk;
The setting sun slopes down your bamboo hat,
As going back from these green hills, you must.
| Chinese 送靈澈 劉長卿 蒼蒼竹林寺 杳杳鐘聲晚 荷笠帶斜陽 青山獨歸遠 | Pronunciation |
Sending Off a Lord to Guizhou, Demoted to a Magistrate
I don't know the road to Guizhou, but still I send off a former lord
Who's set to travel a thousand miles across the cries of forest apes,
To flutter about like a bird that flies throughout the great five lakes.
The rulers know nothing, the mountains are deep with vulgar hordes:
He's stuck in a foreign land, unable to move for fear of broken brakes.
Original Chinese Poem by Liu Changqing
Seeking Chang, the Daoist Priest
The entire journey was on foot to this place,
Of moss, more moss, and my footstep’s trace.
White clouds about the banks in a quiet state,
The growing grass has covered the fence’s gate.
Passing rain, the pine’s green color in course,
I follow the mountain, to the water’s source.
These river flowers, in a moment’s sensation,
Have brought us to meet in silent meditation.
Original Chinese Poem
