Arts & Sciences
To a Portrait Painter Who Desired Him to Sit
Translated by Arthur Waley (1918) · From A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems (1918)
You, so bravely splashing reds and blues!
Just when I am getting wrinkled and old.
Why should you waste the moments of inspiration
Tracing the withered limbs of a sick man?
Tall, tall is the Palace of Ch’i-lin;
But my deeds have not been frescoed on its walls.
Minutely limned on a foot of painting silk--
What can I do with a portrait such as that?
Cite this poem
MLA
Chü-i, Po. “To a Portrait Painter Who Desired Him to Sit.” Translated by Arthur Waley. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/po-chu-i/27/.
Chicago
Chü-i, Po. “To a Portrait Painter Who Desired Him to Sit.” Translated by Arthur Waley. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/po-chu-i/27/.
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