Choosing to Be Simple: Collected Poems of Tao Yuanming - Tapa blanda

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About the Author

Early fifth-century poet Tao Yuanming (d. 427) was known for his love of rice wine and chrysanthemums, as well as for his disdain of official position. His hometown is Shahe, where the Tao Yuanming Memorial Hall is also located.

About the Translator

Bill Porter, under the pen name Red Pine, is the renowned translator of classic Chinese poetry. His translations have been honored with two NEA translation fellowships, a PEN Translation Prize, and the inaugural Asian Literature Award from the American Literary Translators Association. A Guggenheim Fellow, Porter also received the 2018 Thornton Wilder Prize for Translation bestowed by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. A full-length film documentary Dancing with the Dead: The Life and Times of Red Pine is forthcoming in 2023. He lives in Port Townsend, Washington.

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4. Held Up at Guilin by Winds While Returning from the Capital in the Fifth Month of 400

II

People sigh about the hardships of travel 

I’m just learning about them now

about the size of mountains and rivers 

and the unexpected dangers of both

about crashing waves that echo across the sky

and relentless winds that never cease

the more I travel the more I long for home

why am I stuck where I am 

I’ve been thinking how much I love my garden 

and why haven’t I said goodbye to the world 

how long will my good years last 

And why did I ever question my heart

7.  Stopping Drinking

The place I live stops next to a village 

I wander then stop to relax

my seat stops beneath tall trees 

my steps stop inside my old gate 

my favorite smell stops at the sunflowers

my greatest joy stops with my sons

my entire life I have never stopped drinking

if I stopped I wouldn’t be happy 

if I stopped in the evening I wouldn’t sleep well

if I stopped in the morning I couldn’t get up

day after day I thought about stopping

if I stopped my circulation might suffer 

I only know stopping wouldn’t be fun

I didn’t know stopping could be beneficial 

once I realized stopping could be good

this morning I actually stopped

from now on if I can keep stopping

I’ll end up stopping on the shores of Fusang 

where unblemished looks will stop on my face

and why should I stop with a million years