Living
Stopping the Night at Jung-yang
Translated by Arthur Waley (1918) · From A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems (1918)
I grew up at Jung-yang;
I was still young when I left.
On and on,--forty years passed
Till again I stayed for the night at Jung-yang.
When I went away, I was only eleven or twelve;
This year I am turned fifty-six.
Yet thinking back to the times of my childish games,
Whole and undimmed, still they rise before me.
The old houses have all disappeared;
Down in the village none of my people are left.
It is not only that streets and buildings have changed;
But steep is level and level changed to steep!
Alone unchanged, the waters of Ch’iu and Yu
Passionless,--flow in their old course.
Cite this poem
MLA
Chü-i, Po. “Stopping the Night at Jung-yang.” Translated by Arthur Waley. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/po-chu-i/40/.
Chicago
Chü-i, Po. “Stopping the Night at Jung-yang.” Translated by Arthur Waley. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/po-chu-i/40/.
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