Nature

A Green Stream

by Wang Wei AD 699–759

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

Nature

I have sailed the River of Yellow Flowers,
Borne by the channel of a green stream,
Rounding ten thousand turns through the mountains
On a journey of less than thirty miles. . . .
Rapids hum over heaped rocks;
But where light grows dim in the thick pines,
The surface of an inlet sways with nut-horns
And weeds are lush along the banks.
. . . Down in my heart I have always been as pure
As this limpid water is. . . .
Oh, to remain on a broad flat rock
And to cast a fishing-line forever!

MLA

Wei, Wang. “A Green Stream.” Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/wang-wei/31/.

Chicago

Wei, Wang. “A Green Stream.” Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/wang-wei/31/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

More by Wang Wei