Poems List
Explore poems from our collection
Don't imitate me
Don't imitate me
Don't imitate me;
it's as boring
as the two halves of a melon.
Translated by Robert Hass
First snow
First snow
First snow
falling
on the half-finished bridge.
Translated by Robert Hass
Bush warbler
Bush warbler
Bush warbler:
shits on the rice cakes
on the porch rail.
Translated by Robert Hass
Collection of Six Haiku
Collection of Six Haiku
Waking in the night;
the lamp is low,
the oil freezing.
It has rained enough
to turn the stubble on the field
black. …
Autumn moonlight
Autumn moonlight
Autumn moonlight--
a worm digs silently
into the chestnut.
Translated by Robert Hass
Bitter–tasting ice —
Bitter–tasting ice —
Kori nigaku enso ga nodo o uruoseri
Bitter–tasting ice —
Just enough to wet the throat
Of a sewer rat.
A cool fall night
A cool fall night
At a hermitage:
A cool fall night--
getting dinner, we peeled
eggplants, cucumbers.
Translated by Robert Hass
A monk sips morning tea
A monk sips morning tea
A monk sips morning tea,
it's quiet,
the chrysanthemum's flowering.
Translated by Robert Hass
A bee
A bee
A bee
staggers out
of the peony.
Translated by Robert Hass
A caterpillar
A caterpillar
A caterpillar,
this deep in fall--
still not a butterfly.
Translated by Robert Hass
Winter clouds
Winter clouds
Winter clouds snow-laden, cotton fluff flying,
None or few the unfallen flowers.
Chill waves sweep through steep skies,
Yet earth's g…
Three Short Poems
Three Short Poems
Mountains!
I whip my swift horse, glued to my saddle.
I turn my head startled,
The sky is three foot three above me!
…
The Fairy Cave Inscription on a Picture Taken by Comrade Li Chin
The Fairy Cave Inscription on a Picture Taken by Comrade Li Chin
Amid the growing shades of dusk stand sturdy pines,
Riotous clouds sweep past, swift and tranq…
The People's Liberation Army Captures Nanking
The People's Liberation Army Captures Nanking
Over Chungshan swept a storm, headlong,
Our mighty army, a million strong, has crossed the Great River.
The…
Snow
Snow
North country scene:
A hundred leagues locked in ice,
A thousand leagues of whirling snow.
Both sides of the Great Wall
One single…
Tapoti
Tapoti
Red, orange, yellow, green,
blue, violet, indigo:
Who is dancing with these
rainbow colours in the sky?
Air after rain, slanting…
Reply to Mr. Liu Ya-Tzu
Reply to Mr. Liu Ya-Tzu
I still remember our drinking tea in Kwangchow
And your asking for verses in Chungking as the leaves yellowed.
Back in the old ca…
Reply to Comrade Kuo Mo-Jo
Reply to Comrade Kuo Mo-Jo
On this tiny globe
A few flies dash themselves against the wall,
Humming without cease,
Sometimes shrilling,
Somet…
Peitaiho
Peitaiho
A rainstorm sweeps down on this northern land,
White breakers leap to the sky.
No fishing boats off Chinwangtao
Are seen on the boun…
Reply to a Friend
Reply to a Friend
White clouds are sailing above Mount Chiuyi;
Riding the wind, the Princesses descend the green hills.
Once they speckled the bamboos wi…
Militia Women Inscription on a Photograph
Militia Women Inscription on a Photograph
How bright and brave they look, shouldering five-foot rifles
On the parade ground lit up by the first gleams of day. …
New Year's Day
New Year's Day
Ninghua, Chingliu, Kueihua
What narrow paths, deep woods and slippery moss!
Whither are we bound today?
Straight to the foot of Wuyi…
Huichang
Huichang
Soon dawn will break in the east.
Do not say 'You start too early';
Crossing these blue hills adds nothing to one's years,
The lands…
Loushan Pass
Loushan Pass
Fierce the west wind,
Wild geese cry under the frosty morning moon.
Under the frosty morning moon
Horses' hooves clattering,
Bug…