Observations placeholder
Li Po - On hearing a flute on a Spring night at Loyang
Identifier
016725
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Long ago gardens is a term for one's old home.
Twisted willows are a symbol of reluctant parting.
A description of the experience
From Li Po and Tu Fu Poems – translated and with an introduction by Arthur Cooper [Penguin classics]
On hearing a flute on a Spring night at Loyang
From whose house is it a clear flute
in the dark so flies its voice
it intermits Spring winds
filling Lo city?
For this evening among its airs
hearing ‘Breaking the Withies’
who will not remember
long ago gardens?