1.1‘… No wise hermit, that recluse with shakinghands, somehow sounding a ghost-white lute.When he blinks, peers round, no one notices:just the wind rustling twigs and memories …’1.2Yoking my chariot I’m merciless to the horse.Ride like a prince through the streets of Lo.In Lo Town everything pleases me!High and low mingle like thieves.The widest streets need lanes to join them.How noble the houses of the royal counts!A long feast keeps us young and thoughtless,Casting no shadows for sorrow to haunt.1.3Avoid the reach of sharp swords,Stay clear of tempting glances,A sword stroke will cripple your arm,A weak wheel breaks after ten yards,One night of joy will scar your soul.2.1‘…War’s infection spreads from the borders:this year, last year, next – honoured rites of slaughter.The phoenix flutters gaudy wings of sorrow,When war is the plough, crops of bone mustfollow…’2.2Green green the far off willows,Far far the town of Chunming.Beyond the horizon only future.I must travel toward haze and mist.2.3In the City of Heaven a thousand voices.Urgent fluttering wings of cicadas.Crickets sing until daybreak.I must heed when teachers speak.3.1‘…Evening discourses from a cold studio.All very well for Master Su Tung-po!Enlightenment dredged from a deep wine bowl.The moon’s beauty worms away at my soul…’3.2The lake ripples as four winds will.Fish rise, mouths gape like coins.West Lake might as well be an ocean.Heart’s desire waits for shores to kiss.No balance until they touch.3.3Outside doors taller than my father’s I wait.Whisper of suitors. Shadows shaping.But my Lord’s painting by Xie-He lends ease.Sages and waterfalls blend wisdom,Approving the virtue of Lord Xiao’s house. 4.1‘…Clouds drift through a maze of stars.A fat autumn moon emerges from the mountainside.In the valley lanterns bob like fireflies.They are coming, as they did for Wang Wei…’4.2She washes kohl-lined eyes, almond eyes,Make-up skeins of black in a jade bowl.Pigments disperse as soon as friendship,Making the water grey. Throw it away.Wise heads have lived this before.Is a dream of love all my reward?4.3He who gives life to the city is humble.Salt him. Feed his family. Mix him with rice.River textures are mirror and shadow.The fisherman casts a net of heaven.Droplets scatter, he hauls in the Way.5.1‘…The sly pheasant boasts six row talons.Our mulberry tree has countless roots.The general’s chariot tinkles with pendants of jade.Rocks are our jewels, green bamboo our brocade…’6.1‘…I dreamt of riding a giant heron,gazing down from Heaven at insect armies – ant-sting lance thicketgnat-swarm arrow cloud.But the tears of widowswere as vast as Lake Poyang…’7.1‘…Otters cannot stop catching carpand so we pursued our pleasures.Drum and flute set us dancing all nightto the tune Telling of Innermost Feelings.When the gong’s echo fadeddawn revealed our delusion….’7.2Travellers are beauty’s best judge.Moon Goddess’s fragrant lightFills roads between heaven and earth.The Lady Ta Chi’s fragranceScents the Son of Heaven’s palace.He pauses before his next victory,And sadly thinks of home.7.3Thin, bony fish caught from brick steps.Do not say they are less than carp.Lure and hook whatever swims your way,Hold slippery, drowning mouths,Scales crusting hands like moonshine.Finest foods are a matter of taste.Once eaten, any fish becomes you.8.1‘…Your fragrance left my beingso long ago.Yet scent lingers in dreamsand each night I assure myself it means nothing.I shall forget, in time, surely as morning.Then your fragrance – honey, sweat-musk, elusivedew – revivesa desire never wholly forsaken.When I clear my nose, this curtained roomreeks of musty pain…’8.2To the tune of ‘Wind-Washed Sand’Climb pagoda steps, gaze across the lands.Stars hang motionless, night is numb.Old friends offer what comfort they can.Lonely shadow, do not imagineDaybreak will scatter you forever.Do not forget kind words said in parting.In pools of darkness, jade faces glow.9.1‘…The Provincial Capital echoeswith disorder.Armies prowl the five directionsgorging on tattered villages that survive…’10.1‘…Green moss on the path seldom travelledto Mulberry Ridge. From up hereview a hundred li of flooded fieldscrowned by haze, circling white birds.How many more times will this way choose me?Once is all I beg, to say farewell.’