Three Poems by Wang Wei

 

I have recently translated a series of three short poems by the the great Tang poet Wang Wei.  If you are interested in learning more about these poems then please sign up for the free newsletter I publish intermittently which you can find here:

Tang Spirit Newsletter.

The Yu Gong Valley -

I.

 

Heading into a valley

Quite simply traveling

With nobody else

But Master Li

To accompany me

Nothing is needed

For either of us

Except a place to sleep

Empty and carefree

Content without regard

Whether it’s spring or summer

Or whichever way

East or west may lie

Unknowing

Just like a child

That’s how it feels

Lowly and lofty

At one and the same time

II.

A simple home

In a simple valley

A valley at first that

Looks so unbecoming

Although we travelers

Leave not a trace

Still the valley resounds

With an answering cry

And to a cloudless sky

Comes the onset of darkness

Followed soon enough

By day’s bright return

Here’s the true meaning

Of this place

In a simple valley

From simplicity itself

Everything else derives

 

_III.

 

_{To find this valley}

_{So lofty but plain}

_{Depends on nothing}

_{But a careful search}

_{Not looking all over}

_{For some remote spot}

_{Because this place}

_{Lies closer at hand}

_{Traveling once}

_{It can be reached}

_{Without much trouble}

_{But to abide in its presence}  

_{Requires greater depth}

_{Living by the word}

_{As mortality’s guest}

_{When desire takes hold}

_{It’s to this simple place}

_{The mind returns}