A Short Walk Around East Lake (with Bai Juyi)

Ah spring time!  When winter comes (as Shelly reminds us) we can't help but think of spring. But when spring finally comes we can think of spring and nothing else! The birds do sing, hey ding a ding ding, and we have no business other than the business of life once again becoming itself.

It should come as no surprise that the great Tang poets wrote some of their finest poems in spring time.  Here's one of my favorites by the great Bai Juyi, which he wrote, no doubt, while taking his favorite stroll around the shores of East Lake in Hangzhou.   As often as we behold the beauty of a spring morning, it's the poet's task to celebrate and remind us of the wonder of it.

Qian Tang Lake in Spring

GuShan Temple to the north

Jia Ting Pavilion to the west

The water’s surface rests peacefully

Although clouds drag their limbs beneath

Scattered about the morning warblers

Strive to find warmth perching among the trees

While the sparrows intently peck and build

Their new homes in the fresh wet earth

Flowers have gradually spread out in abandon

Teasing the eyes with their enchantment

The deep lush grass possesses the talent

 To resist even a prancing horse’s hoof

Walking the shoreline of East Lake somehow

Seems not enough to express this deepest love

Passing through the poplars’ green shade

And the pure white sand of the embankments

     

钱塘湖春行

 白居易

孤山寺北贾亭西

水面初平云脚低

几处早莺争暖树

谁家新燕啄春泥

乱花渐欲迷人眼

浅草才能没马蹄

最爱湖东行不足

绿杨阴里白沙堤