Observations placeholder
Li Po - Longing
Identifier
016738
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
From Li Po and Tu Fu Poems – translated and with an introduction by Arthur Cooper [Penguin classics]
Longing
Sunlight begins to fade
mist fills the flowers
The moon as white as silk
weeps and cannot sleep
Chao zither’s phoenix frets
no more shall I touch
Shu lute’s Mandarin duck strings
I’ll sound instead.
This song has a meaning
that no one can tell
It follows the Spring wind
as far as Yen-jan
To you far, far away
beyond the blue sky –
Whom I once gave
A sideways glance
With eyes that now
Are wells of tears –
If you do not believe
that my heart breaks
Come back and look with me
into this glass.