Soma
Resources => Poetry [Public] => Topic started by: Nichi on May 24, 2013, 05:33:05 PM
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Faint wind rustles reeds and cattails;
I open the hatch, expecting rain — moon floods the lake.
Boatmen and water birds dream the same dream;
a big fish splashes off like a frightened fox.
It’s late — men and creatures forget each other
while my shadow and I amuse ourselves alone.
Dark tides creep over the flats — I pity the cold mud-worms;
the setting moon, caught in a willow, lights a dangling spider.
Life passes swiftly, hedged by sorrow;
how long before you’ve lost it — a scene like this?
Cocks crow, bells ring, a hundred birds scatter;
drums pound from the bow, shout answers shout.
On a Boat, Awake at Night
Su Tung-p’o
11th Century China
Translated by Burton Watson
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Boatmen and water birds dream the same dream;
...
Life passes swiftly, hedged by sorrow;
how long before you’ve lost it — a scene like this?
Fast or slow ...