Nature

At Wang Ch’ang-ling’s Retreat

by Ch’ang Ch’ien c. AD 720

Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu (1929) · From The Jade Mountain (1929)

Nature

Here, beside a clear deep lake,
You live accompanied by clouds;
Or soft through the pine the moon arrives
To be your own pure-hearted friend.
You rest under thatch in the shadow of your flowers,
Your dewy herbs flourish in their bed of moss.
Let me leave the world. Let me alight, like you,
On your western mountain with phœnixes and cranes.

MLA

Ch’ien, Ch’ang. “At Wang Ch’ang-ling’s Retreat.” Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/chang-chien/5/.

Chicago

Ch’ien, Ch’ang. “At Wang Ch’ang-ling’s Retreat.” Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/chang-chien/5/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

More by Ch’ang Ch’ien