Sitting Alone at Mount Jingting (獨坐敬亭山) by Lǐ​ Bái (李白)

獨坐敬亭山

衆鳥高飛盡
孤雲獨去閒
相看兩不厭
只有敬亭山

李白

"Vanished are the birds upon soaring high,
Save a cloud solitary, floats freely by.
Tired not of reciprocating one another's gaze,
Thou, and thou only, Mount Jingting and I."

Translated by Andrew W.F. Wong (Huang Hongfa) 譯者: 黃宏發

351

year in, year out
grateful for witnessing
this fleeting moment

350

one breath, two, three
where was I again?
one, two,

350

Sunday morning, early
Everything is quiet
Everything?

348

Restless in sitting
I unseasily watch
my own impatience

346

Heavy rain, whipping winds
In the middle of the night
I just sit and forget

340

Breathing quietly
Outside, a car passes
Takes my attention away

335

I quietly watch
my complete inability
to sit still

334

Who was sitting here just a moment ago? Not me

333

Almost there.
where? nowhere
really

A white ceiling
all the emptiness
I need

Drinking Alone with the Moon (月下獨酌) by Lǐ​ Bái (李白)

月下獨酌

花間一壺酒， 獨酌無相親；
舉杯邀明月， 對影成三人。
月既不解飲， 影徒隨我身；
暫伴月將影， 行樂須及春。
我歌月徘徊， 我舞影零亂；
醒時同交歡， 醉後各分散。
永結無情遊， 相期邈雲漢。

李白

"From a pot of wine among the flowers
I drank alone. There was no one with me –
Till, raising my cup, I asked the bright moon
To bring me my shadow and make us three.
Alas, the moon was unable to drink
And my shadow tagged me vacantly;
But still for a while I had these friends
To cheer me through the end of spring....
I sang. The moon encouraged me.
I danced. My shadow tumbled after.
As long as I knew, we were boon companions.
And then I was drunk, and we lost one another.
...Shall goodwill ever be secure?
I watch the long road of the River of Stars."

Unless noted otherwise, all translations of Tang Poetry come from the Chinese Classics and Translations website, tranlations by Witter Bynner.