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On A Picture Screen

Li Bai 701-762 Whence these twelve peaks of Wushan! Have you flown into the gorgeous screen From heaven's one corner? Ah, those lonely pines murmuring in the wind! Those palaces of Yangtai, hovering yongder-- Oh, the melancholy of it!-- Where the jeweled couch of the king With brocade covers is desolate,-- His elfin maid voluptuously fair Still hauting them in vain! Here a few feet Seem a thousand miles. The craggy walls glisten blue and red, A piece of dazzling embroidery. How green those distant trees are Round the river strait of Jingmen! And those ships--they go on, Floating on the waters of Ba. The water sings over the rocks Between countless hills Of shining mist and lustrous grass. How many years since these valley flowers bloomed To smile in the sun？ And that man traveling on the river, Hears he not for ages the monkeys screaming? Whoever looks on this, Loses himself in eternity; And entering the sacred mountains of Song, He will dream among the resplendent clouds.

Guān Yuán Dānqiū Zuò Wūshān Píngfēng

Lǐ Bǎi 701-762 Xī yóu Sānxiá jiàn Wūshān， Jiaǹ huà Wūshān wǎn xiāngsì. Yí shì tiān biān shíèr fēng， Fēi rù jūn jiā cǎi píng lǐ. Hán sōng xiāosè rú yǒu shēng， Yángái wēimáng rú yǒu qíng. Jǐn qīn yáo xí hé jìjì， Chǔwáng shénnǚ tú yíngyíng. Gāo zhǐ chǐ， Rú qiān lǐ， Cuì píng dān yá càn rú qí. Cāngcāng yuǎn shù wéi jīngmén， Lìlì xíng zhōu fàn Bā shuǐ. Shuǐ shí chányuán wàn hè fēn， Yān guāng cǎo sè jù fēnyūn. Xī huāì xiào rì hé nián fā？ Jiāng kè tīng yuán jǐ suì wén？ Shǐ rén duì cǐ xīn miǎnmiǎo， Yí rù Sōng qiū mèng cǎi yún.

Translator:

Shigeyoshi Obata 小畑薰良

Notes: The screen was owned by his Buddist friend, Yuan Danqiu, to whom Li Po has written innumerable poems. The Wushan peaks are along the Yangtze gorges in Sichuan. The second stanza refers to the Legend of the Cloud and Rain. _________________ From the book The Works of Li Po, first published in Tokyo, Japan in 1935, Excellent English translations by a Japanese scholar.

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