(no subject)
TO LI CHIEN, by Po Chu-I
[a.d. 818]
The province I govern is humble and remote;
Yet our festivals follow the Courtly Calendar.
At rise of day we sacrificed to the Wind God,
When darkly, darkly, dawn glimmered in the sky.
Officers followed, horsemen led the way;
They brought us out to the wastes beyond the town,
Where river mists fall heavier than rain,
And the fires on the hill leap higher than the stars.
Suddenly I remembered the early levees at Court
When you and I galloped to the Purple Yard.
As we walked our horses up Dragon Tail Street
We turned our heads and gazed at the Southern Hills.
Since we parted, both of us have been growing old;
And our minds have been vexed by many anxious cares.
Yet even now I fancy my ears are full
Of the sound of jade tinkling on your bridle-straps.
My mom sent this poem to me once in an email. I'm not sure where she ran across it. She printed it out for me, and I read it a few times and folded it up and put it away somewhere.
Then, earlier this year, the images suddenly burst into my head. I looked it up online and read it over and over again until it burned into my memory. Now it's always here, running through my head. The most beautiful poem I've ever read. It seems so familiar, as though it was written by book character I know well. Like Aerin, or Harry. The imagery is so complete, so arresting. It builds the sense of longing and vivid nostalgia until it is almost unbearable, then plateaus with the last four lines and becomes something new, something more beautiful, something everlasting. No longer nostalgia, just a memory. It makes my heart feel so full, but full of some emotion I can't quite place.
I bought the book on Amazon today, so it should be here soon. I'm really excited to read the rest of the poems. I wonder how they'll compare.