Autumn Dusk in the Mountains (Wang Wei)

A beautiful poem about the onset of autumn by the Tang poet Wang Wei.  In keeping with the Chan tradition, it is in the change of the season that the poet finds a deeper continuity in nature.

In the empty mountains

After a freshening rain

The weather has cleared

And now autumn is here

The moon shines brightly

Illuminating the pines

The clear water flows

Over a rocky stream bed

The bamboo rustles as

Washerwomen pass below

The bed of lotus stirs under

The fisherman’s boat

The idea comes to mind

As spring’s fragrance fades

Down through the generations

It’s only nature that remains

山居秋暝

空山新雨後     天气晚来秋

明月松间照     清泉石上流

竹喧归浣女     莲动下渔舟

随意春芳歇     王孙自可留