Path from Han River to Lumenshan in the distance

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To Meng Haoren (2)

Li Bo 699-762 I like you, my friend, Meng, Your love of beauty is something known         to everybody under heaven. When young with red cheeks         you cast aside your carriage and cap, Now that your head is white         you lie among pine trees and clouds. You get drunk with the moon         as often as with the transparent wine, And to the honor of searving the emperor         you prefer the rapture of blossoms. Your nobility looms up like a high mountain         too high for others to attain to, But they may breathe the rare fragrance         that your soul imparts.

Zèng Mèng Hàorán (2)

Lǐ Bó 699-762 Wú ài Mèng Fūzǐ, Fēngliú Tiānxià wén. Hóng yán qì xiānmiān, Báishǒu wò sōng yún. Zuì yuè pín zhōng shèng, Mí huā bù shì jūn. Gāoshān ān kě yǎng, Tú cǐ yì qīngfēn.

Translator:

Shigeyoshi Obata 小畑薰良

Notes: There are four translations of this poem on MopuntainSongs. the first by Dongpo in 2003, the second by Shigeyoshi Obata in 1922 in his seminal 'The Works of Li Po', the third by Stephen Owen in 1981 in 'The Great Age of Chinese Poetry', a must read!, and the fourth, again by Dongbo in January, 2006. 'Time Changes Everything', as the country song goes. And everybody's translation is his or her's alone.

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