Ascending from the west the PeakS now-White,
Not till the sun goes down I reach its height.
The snow-white MorningStar teIls me to wait
Until he opens the Celestial Gate.
I wish to ride cold wind and floating cloud
To touch the moon and dwarf all mountains proud.
But once I left behind the Western land,
Could I return to the summit where I stand?
西上太白峰，夕阳穷登攀。
太白与我语，为我开天关。
愿乘泠风去，直出浮云间。
举手可近月，前行若无山。
一别武功去，何时复见还。
Scholarly consensus on the composition date of this poem by Li Bai, the preeminent Tang-dynasty poet, is divided into two views: it is believed to have been written either during his court summons to Chang’an in the first year of the Tianbao reign (742 CE) or in his first sojourn in Chang’an in the 18th and 19th years of the Kaiyuan reign (730–731 CE). Through depictions of the poet ascending Mount Taibai to converse with the Taibai Star and fantasizing about a spiritual journey to the celestial realm, the poem captures the mountain’s magnificent, cloud-piercing grandeur, while also voicing his discontent with the mortal world and his melancholy over the unfulfillment of his political ideals.
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