Contributors to the Poetry Pavilion and I chose seven poems to recite as part of an inaugural Poetry Slam event at the Chinese New Year Party, 2022. Two poems by Li Bo (701-762) were included. Li Bo is one of the most famous of Tang dynasty poets. The poem below is a shi 詩poem in five-character regulated verse, with five characters in each line and internal rhymes in which Li Bo explores the pleasures of life as a recluse, who has withdrawn from a life of service to enjoy the pleasures of solitude.
山中答俗人 李白 | Shān zhōng dá súrén Li Bo | Reply to Ordinary People from within the Mountains by Li Bo |
聞余何意棲碧山， | Wèn yú héyì qī bì shān, | When you ask why I take refuge in Bluestone mountain, |
笑而不答, 心自闲。 | Xiào ér bù dá, xīn zì xián. | I smile and don’t reply, my heart at ease in itself. |
桃花流水杳然去 | Táohuā liúshuǐ yàorán qù | Peach blossoms flow on the water, unfathomably going |
別有天地, 非人間。 | bié yǒu tiāndì, fēi rénjiàn. | to a different heaven and earth, not the human world. |
落花詩意圖 (Poetic Feeling of Fallen Flowers) Shen Zhou (沈周, 1427–1509), Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), Album leaf, Nanjing Museum