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

Poem Written on the Back Porch in Late October

The clarity 

Of the last two

Crickets chirping on

An October evening

Just before the first frost

Can be heard with something

Much less pure than

The mind of winter

Surely the sadness

Is completely imagined

But not so the beauty 

Of the duet which is

Palpable in its vibration

In the way it stirs up
  And still fills up

The melody of 

The night

Nothing is too small not to be wondered about -- that is the name of a fine Mary Oliver poem that my friend Genie had posted to Facebook a short while ago.  And after reading the Oliver poem online I went outside and sat on the back porch in the twilight and was treated to a serenade by the last two crickets of the season.  So very much with Mary Oliverin my mind, it was just us crickets chirping.