Category: Poems by – 陶潛 (365-427)

結盧在人境 而無車馬喧
問君何能爾 心遠地自偏

採菊東籬下 悠然見南山
山氣日夕佳 飛鳥相與還

此中有真意 欲辨已忘言

Drink               Tao Qian (365–427)  tr By S L Kong

Amid man’s haunted environs I have my chalet
Where noises of hoofs and wheels are kept away
Asked how such a place could achieve serenity
A detached mind can create peace naturally

At dawn I pick daisies by the fence at will
And watch the beauty of the southern hill
Where the mountain air so fresh is here to stay
Birds leave and return to their nests day after day

Herein rests the true meaning of life
If need be told words have escaped from my mind

Drinking Wine

I made my home amidst this human bustle,
Yet I hear no clamour from the carts and horses.
My friend, you ask me how this can be so?
A distant heart will tend towards like places.
From the eastern hedge, I pluck chrysanthemum flowers,
And idly look towards the southern hills.
The mountain air is beautiful day and night,
The birds fly back to roost with one another.
I know that this must have some deeper meaning,
I try to explain, but cannot find the words.

種豆南山下 草盛豆苗稀
晨興理荒穢 帶月荷鋤歸

道狹草木長 夕露沾我衣
衣沾不足惜 但使願無違

Back to Nature III      Tao Qian (365–427)  tr By S L Kong

At the foot of the southern hills growing beans I try
Bean stalks soon wilt while grass thrive
To clear the weeds I early rise
Hoe on shoulder I return home by night

Narrow are the paths where shrubs grow tall
My clothes are soaked when heavy dews fall
It matters not if I’m wet
So long as my life goals are met