Selected Short Poems

WARNING

You stand on the bridge to gaze at the view,
While someone watches you from a tower.
The bright moon adorns your window,
And you adorn another’s dream.

— Fragment by Bian Zhilin

How I wish for a doorway,
Where morning sunlight falls on the grass.
We stand there, leaning against the door,
Low as it is, the sun shines bright.
The grass sows its seeds, the wind shakes the leaves,
We stand, silent, and it is enough.

— Gu Cheng, A Generation, Avoidance, Before the Door

Spring sorrow waits for wine to drown,
Boats rock on the river, curtains beckon from towers.
Time slips away too soon—
Cherries redden, bananas green.

— A Twig of Mume Blossoms by Jiang Jie

From now on, I care not for fine nights,
Let the bright moon sink west without me.

— Writing Emotion by Li Yi

The hills have trees, and trees have branches,
My heart adores you, but you do not know.

— Song of the Yue Boatman, Anonymous

The carved die inlaid with red beans—
Deep in my bones, do you know this longing?

— New Lyrics to Willow Branches by Wen Tingyun

A crane’s shadow crosses the cold pond,
The frigid moon buries the flower’s soul.

— Dream of the Red Chamber

Though knowing this love brings no good,
I can’t help but ache with tender madness.

— Li Shangyin

What the world holds least firm—
Youth fades like flowers from the mirror, from the tree.

— Butterfly in Love with Flowers by Wang Guowei

Not a flower, not a mist,
Coming at midnight, gone by dawn,
Like a spring dream—how long does it stay?
Like morning clouds—where does it drift?

— Not a Flower by Bai Juyi

Helpless before morning’s chill rain, evening’s wind—
Life’s long regrets flow east like endless rivers.

— Li Yu’s poetry

Drunk, I forget the sky mirrors the water,
A boatful of clear dreams presses down the Milky Way.

— Inscription on Longyang’s Green Grass Lake by Tang Wenru

Free petals drift light as dreams,
Endless drizzle fine as sorrow.

— Silk-Washing Stream by Qin Guan

In youth, I listened to rain in song-filled towers,
Red candles dim behind silk curtains.
In middle age, I listened to rain on a traveler’s boat,
Wide river, low clouds, lone goose crying in west wind.
Now I listen to rain beneath a temple’s eaves,
My hair already streaked with stars.
Joys and sorrows, partings and reunions—all unfeeling.
Let the raindrops on the steps fall till dawn.

— Listening to the Rain by Jiang Jie

The moon sets, crows cry, frost fills the sky,
River maples, fishing fires—sleeping in sorrow.

— Mooring by Maple Bridge at Night by Zhang Ji

That gentlest bow of your head,
Like a lotus flower shy of the cool breeze.

— By Chance, Sayonara by Xu Zhimo

If there is an afterlife, I’d be a tree,
Standing eternal, without joy or sorrow.
Half rooted in earth, serene,
Half dancing in the wind;
Half offering shade,
Half basking in sunlight.
Silent, proud,
Never leaning, never seeking.

— If There Is an Afterlife by Sanmao

So I open the yellowed title page,
Fate bound it clumsily.
Tearfully, I read it again and again,
Yet must admit—
Youth is a book too hastily written.

— Youth by Xi Murong

Let life be beautiful like summer flowers,
And death like autumn leaves.

The world has kissed my soul with its pain,
Asking for its return in songs.

Only through the grind of hell
Can one forge the power to create heaven;
Only fingers bleeding from the strings
Can play the world’s most haunting music.

When you weep for missing the sun,
You also miss the stars.

The sky leaves no trace of wings,
But I have flown.

My eyes rain for her,
But my heart holds an umbrella—
This is love.

— Stray Birds, Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore

White sun, scattered clouds—startled apart,
Beneath the flowers, no one speaks of idleness.

— Floating Life by Gu Zhe

Ten miles of flat lake, frost-filled sky,
Each inch of dark hair grieves fleeting youth.
Gazing alone at the moon, longing for care,
I envy not immortals, but lovebirds paired.

— From the film A Chinese Ghost Story

Morning breezes will still brush my face,
Cuckoos will still sing on branches,
Earth will still breathe its fragrance,
Red maples will still flutter and fade.
I choose to believe, as ever,
That amid life’s cold ashes,
Remembering all about you
Was always my lifelong sorrow.

— Zhang Hansi, Abnormal Human Syndromes (Léont Blanc)

Octopus pot—
A fleeting dream
Under the summer moon.

— Matsuo Bashō

Flower shadows sway—
I long to tread them,
Moonlit crags ahead.

— Hara Sekitei

Grass in haze,
Water soundless—
Dusk falls.

— Yosa Buson

A lone horse, dust-stained,
A thousand peaks at dawn and dusk.
Gazing far where the sunset fades,
I linger toward distant hills.
Old post-station flowers by the road,
A wild village, bamboo fences aglow.
Who pities my backward glance,
Step by step, longing for southern boughs?

— Staying Late at Bamboo Lodge, Remembering Past Travels in Ganyue by Liu Changqing (Tang Dynasty)