Seeking the Hermitage of the Reverend Yong
- Poetry of Li Bai (Li Po)
The cliffs pierce the blue sky, green and steep;
Carefree, you don’t remember the years deep.
Parting the clouds, I search the pathway old;
Leaning on rock, I hear the stream water cold.
The flowers are warm where blue oxen lie;
The pines are high where white cranes sleep.
Our talk over, we find the river’s dyed by twilight;
Alone, I come down through the cold mist in sight.
Composed during Li Bai's later travels in Xuancheng, this work stands as a representative piece among his Taoist-inspired poems. Having experienced career setbacks and life fluctuations, the poet developed deeper identification with Taoist reclusive philosophy. Although the historical details of "Master Yong" remain unclear, his image embodies Li Bai's complete imagination of an ideal personality—a realized Taoist who transcends time and space, communing with the spirit of heaven and earth.
群峭碧摩天，逍遥不记年。
拨云寻古道，倚石听流泉。
花暖青牛卧，松高白鹤眠。
语来江色暮，独自下寒烟。
- Why Chinese poems is so special?
- The most distinctive features of Chinese poetry are: concision- many poems are only four lines, and few are much longer than eight; ambiguity- number, tense and parts of speech are often undetermined, creating particularly rich interpretative possibilities; and structure- most poems follow quite strict formal patterns which have beauty in themselves as well as highlighting meaningful contrasts.
- How to read a Chinese poem?
- Like an English poem, but more so. Everything is there for a reason, so try to find that reason. Think about all the possible connotations, and be aware of the different possibilities of number and tense. Look for contrasts: within lines, between the lines of each couplet and between successive couplets. Above all, don't worry about what the poet meant- find your meaning.
- Villager's Song I
- Villager's Song II
- Villager's Song III
- The Ferry at Yiyang
- The Village Tavern
- Quatrain of Four Words: Deep Love, True Heart
- Mountain's End
- Seven Poems on Kaiyuan Era: Dancing Horses
- Midnight Song of the Four Seasons: Summer
- In Reply to Pimei’s Poem Written During Illness