Rank grasses grow, six dynasties' splendors no more;
The sky is lightly blue and clouds free as of yore.
Birds come and go into the gloom of wooded hills,
And songs and wails alike merge in murmuring rills.
Like countless window curtains falls late autumn rain:
High towers steeped in sunset, wind and flute's refrain.
O how I miss the lakeside sage of bygone days!
I see but ancient trees loom rugged in the haze.
六朝文物草连空，天淡云闲今古同。
鸟去鸟来山色里，人歌人哭水声中。
深秋帘幕千家雨，落日楼台一笛风。
惆怅无因见范蠡，参差烟树五湖东。
This poem was written in the third year of the Tang Dynasty’s Kāichéng era (838 CE), when Du Mu was 26 years old. It was inspired by his travels to Xuanzhou (modern-day Xuancheng, Anhui) and the Shui Pavilion at Kaiyuan Temple. The poet, standing on the pavilion and gazing into the distance, reflects on the rise and fall of the Six Dynasties' ancient capital and expresses his deep feelings about the impermanence of history and life. At the same time, the poem conveys his yearning for the recluse life of Fan Li.
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
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