Chinese Poetry can certainly be an eye opening experience. And Tang Dynasty Poet, Li Bai, can take us to the outer edge.
In Long Yearning, a dark description of a poets' never ending search for spiritual transcendence, Li Bai creates bright fervid images, as beautiful flowers preen, green waters billow, and a human spirit flies just below the surface of a heavenly mountain gate.
In a poem that creates a sad sardonic tone, he writes,
In Changgan...
As the grasshoppers weave their autumn song by the golden railing of the well,
Frost settles on my bamboo mat changing its color with the cold.
My lonely lamp is not bright; and I would like to end these thoughts.
I role back the curtain.
Then I gaze at the moon.
I sigh a long sigh in vain.
A beautiful person is like a flower at the edge of the clouds.
And above ... the black night is high in heaven.
But below is the green water that bil lows on.
The sky is long; the road is far.
Bitterness flies my spirit.
This spirit I dream can't get through.
The mountain pass is hard.
Long Yearning.
It breaks my heart.
A Flower at the Edge of the Clouds....But a Long Look and Bitter Blue Comment from Here, on Earth
Written in a simple style, this poem, Long Yearning, like other examples of Li Bai's work, creates powerful images that can dance and dart across any open mind. But perhaps the most intriguing image is the flower at the very edge of the clouds.
Like a silver lining in a rain filled cloud, a lovely flower may bring hope and beauty to any desolate person. Its real promise however often remains unfulfilled. It can bring desperation and sorrow to anyone who considers what might have been.
Gerald Marchewka is an American freelance writer currently living in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Gerald Marchewka may be reached at geraldmarchewka@yahoo.com.
Author:: Gerald Marchewka
Keywords:: Poetry, China, Taoism, Buddhism, Philosophy, Tang Dynasty, Confucianism, Analysis, Literature,
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