Thoughts from a High Tower (by Wang Wei)

Wang Wei is most often heralded as a great nature poet, one of the most important early contributors to the tradition of Mountain and Stream poetry (山水詩) in Chinese literature.  But Wang had great range in his life and poetry, and covered a lot of ground in the subjects he addressed, writing not only about the countryside but also about the metropolitan centers of Chang'An and Luoyang, which were the twin capital cities of the Tang empire.

This is a landscape poem Wang wrote that addresses a distinctly human theme.  Written from high atop a tower that overlooked a river valley, dotted with villages and well-tended farmland, this poem resonates with a kind of anomie and almost sounds as if could have been written standing atop the observation deck of a modern skyscraper gazing out over the urban sprawl below.


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With Minister Wu Lang in the West Tower Pondering the Distant Vista

     

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Gazing from this high tower

Thoughts come and go

Eyes reach for the extremity

Yet still it eludes their grasp

A thousand mile vista

A snug pillow for rest 

A window from which to survey

Ten thousand rooms in a glance

Down through the ages

All these strangers passing by

Hurrying deep into the obscurity

Of some distant time and place   

Deep sorrow resides there

Along the riverbank

In a remote farmstead where

A solitary column of smoke rises

You can see the order of it

Everything neatly arranged

Thoughts proceed below

Following a well-trod path

But of my native place

It is nowhere to be seen

Just clouds and rain and emptiness

As if it were all one thing 

和使君五郎西楼望远思归

高楼望所思     目极情未毕

枕上见千里     窗中窥万室

悠悠长路人     暧暧远郊日

惆怅极浦外     迢递孤烟出

能赋属上才     思归同下秩

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故乡不可见     云水空如一

Garden Lament (by Du Mu)

One of the recurring themes of Tang poetry is the garden lament, which strikes me as most apt this time of year, as the azaleas and rhododendrons and peonies are now completely spent, and we're still waiting for the hydrangeas and lilies to hit full stride.  So here is a garden lament from the great Du Mu that I hope will tide us over until the next incoming wave of blossoms has a chance to assume full form.

Flower Lament

How I regret the pursuit of fragrance

That’s already almost completely spent

In former years what once was seen

Well before the blossom opened

Just today the wind has stripped bare

Leaving the bough a disorderly mess

As bit actors now emerge from the shade

Preparing to play their role on the branch

     

即事

杜牧

小院无人雨长苔

满庭修竹间疏槐

春愁兀兀成幽梦

又被流莺唤醒来

And here's my own attempt at a lament for late June - a time of transition, on the verge of high summer, when along with the grubs and mealy bugs that descend on the garden, time's winged chariot first seems to draw near.

In late June

The green leaves

Basking in morning light

Have overleaped time and 

Grown golden in hue already

Dreaming of their transport

And the family of swans

Swimming in stately fashion

On the glittering waterway

Have assembled as if to mourn 

The summer's passage