Reaching for the Extremity - by the Daoist poet Yuan Jie (元结)

After a busy week at work, this afternoon I finally had a chance to resume my practice of translating Tang poetry.  I found this little gem of a poem by the Daoist poet Yuan Jie (元结).  I don't know too much about him or his work but the few poems of his I've read so far are infused with the spirit of the Way.  This one almost reads like a gloss on the Chuang Tzu or Dao De Jing and it is full of some wonderful phrases (very difficult to translate), such as the fifth stanza - 假翼兮鸾凤 - which I have rendered as the falsity surrounding the target's center of the virtuous heart.

Reaching for the Extremity

(a poem in contemplation of the origin by the Daoist poet Yuan Jie)

Under Heaven

 A forgotten place

Overrun with weeds

Desolate and vast

But the energy

Is utterly boundless

Although ashen gray

It's always flourishing

Ascending there

What a person finds

Is truly unexpected

A storehouse of

Clarity and solitude

Upon attaining that

Prime and utmost spot

At this primal extremity

The spirit quickens

And distinguishes itself

Just consider

Its singular appearance

Meager and troubling

And barely defined

Yet also consider

From this Vacuity

No harm to the Self

Will come

Even if the heart

Grows agitated

And fear rings out

Remember that

Falsity surrounds

The target's center 

Of the virtuous heart

It’s a long journey

Riding the wind and

Soaring above

Clasp your hands and

Retain vital energy

Hold on to the source

In its richness and depth

Feast there until

You attain full harmony

Which will last forever

And all day

 *  *  *  *

引极三首·思元极

元结

天旷莽兮杳泱茫    气浩浩兮色苍苍
上何有兮人不测    积清寥兮成元极
彼元极兮灵且异    思一见兮藐难致
思不从兮空自伤    心慅兮意惶懹
思假翼兮鸾凤      乘长风兮上羾
揖元气兮本深实    餐至和兮永终日

*  *  *  *

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A timeless tweet for the Star Magnolia on the front lawn

In a timeless mode

Of seasonal display

The Star Magnolia reveals

New growth adjacent to decay

As next spring’s buds

Have taken shape even

Before this year’s leaves

Fully fall away

Lao Qu -- a Buddhist sonnet by Bai Juyi

This morning I translated a lovely sonnet by Bai Juyi.  Of course it's not really a sonnet,  but it is somewhat similar, the original poem having been composed in adherence to strict formal requirements.  It's called regulated verse (近体诗 or Jintishi), which is a poetic form that developed during the Tang Dynasty.  As you can see from the original Chinese version reproduced below, this particular type of regulated verse called for a total of eight poetic lines, arranged in four couples, with each line consisting of 5 characters.

The poet Bai Juyi was a fascinating character.  I've been translating a number of his poems lately and his writing really demonstrates incredible range, reflecting a wide breadth of experience, from quite worldly and full of merriment, to all but ascetic in temperament.   His self-given courtesy name (equivalent of the western idea of pen name) was Le Tian (乐天), which idiomatically means carefree or easy going.  But Bai Juyi was a devout Chan Buddhist and after a long and successful career in government service, towards the end of his life he ended up living in a monastery and referred to himself as the Hermit of Xian. 

The title of this poem is Lao Qu (老去), which may be literally translated as Old Leaving.  The same two characters appear as the first two characters of the first line of the poem.  
 

Lao Qu

Growing old and departing

Leaving wife and child behind

But when winter arrives

Consolation comes via poetry

Warmth and chill both derive

From the same swig of wine

But the chill is diminished

Reciting a poem’s first lines

To surmount the mind

Still calls for struggle

Through diligent fasting

The body retains lean form

From the beginning of time

So the Dharma ordains

Increase and decrease are

Conjoined and entrained

*  *  *

老去

白居易

老去愧妻儿    冬来有劝词

暖寒从饮酒    冲冷少吟诗

战胜心还壮    斋勤体校羸

由来世间法    损益合相随