Tu Fu (also known as Du Fu- click here for more information about him)
713-770
Coming Home Late At Night
At midnight, coming home, I passed a tiger.
The mountain's black, inside they're all asleep.
Far off the Dipper lowers toward the River.
Above, Bright Star grows great upon the sky.
With candle in the court I glower at two flames.
The apes are restive in the gorge, I hear one cry.
White head, old no more, I dance and sing.
Lean on my cane, unsleeping. And what else!
Translated from the Chinese by J. P. Seaton
Snow Storm
Tumult, weeping, many new ghosts
Heartbroken, aging, alone, I sing
To myself Ragged mist settles
In the spreading dusk. Snow scurries
In the coiling wind. The wineglass
I spilled. The bottle is empty.
The fire has gone out in the stove.
Everywhere men speak in whispers.
I brood on the uselessness of letters.
Translated from the Chinese by Kenneth Rexroth
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