[794] In the Quiet Night

Guest poem submitted by Purnima Sreenivas, <purnimasreenivas@>:

The floor before my bed is bright:
Moonlight - like hoarfrost - in my room.
I lift my head and watch the moon.
I drop my head and think of home.

	-- Li Po

Translated by Vikram Seth.

I came across this poem years ago in Seth's volume "Three Chinese Poets"
which I began reading more from a love of Seth than any great interest in
Chinese poetry. What I love about this poem is its sparseness, something
that Li Po shares with other Chinese poets, and which I think has to do with
a culture where emotional restraint is encouraged. Yet this quatrain is an
example of just how much loneliness can hide behind a facade of serenity.
The poem resembles the Chinese script itself - a minutely detailed painting
brought to life with a few deft strokes.

Purnima.

[Minstrels Links]

Poems by Li Po:
Poem #70, "The River-Merchant's Wife: A Letter"
Poem #505, "About Tu Fu"
Poem #683, "To Tu Fu from Shantung"
Poem #749, "Parting"
(Note that the first of these is credited to Ezra Pound on the Minstrels
website, since it's as much Pound's work as Po's).

Poems by Vikram Seth:
Poem #650, "All You Who Sleep Tonight"
Poem #754, "Protocols"
Poem #460, "Round and Round"

Seth's "Three Chinese Poets" (which, sadly, I do not have the good fortune
to possess) includes translations of Wang Wei, Tu Fu (whose name Seth
transliterates as Du Fu) and Li Po (ditto, Li Bai).