Taiyi stretches toward heaven;
Linked mountains reach into the sea.
Looking back, white clouds coalesce;
In the mist, the mist can't be seen.
A ridge is a boundary of worlds:
Cloudy or clear; with - or sans - tree.
In need of lodging for the night,
I ask the woodsman cross river from me.
This is poem #118 of the 300 Tang Poems [唐诗三百首.] The original in Simplified Chinese is:
太乙近天都， 连山接海隅。
白云回望合， 青霭入看无。
分野中峰变， 阴晴众壑殊。
欲投人处宿， 隔水问樵夫。
after harvest
cows stubble graze, &
egrets hunt in the wake.
cloud ceiling,
almost touched atop a hill,
parts in the distance.
I fear’d the fury of my wind
Would blight all blossoms fair & true,
And my sun it shin’d & shin’d,
And my wind it never blew.
But a blossom fair or true
Was not found on any tree;
For all blossoms grew & grew
Fruitless, false, tho’ fair to see.
prow points seaward
in widening channel;
geese pass overhead.
Spring’s arrival
brings lush, green grass;
livestock keeps it trim.
tree, wrapped in vines,
shape broken & trunk hidden;
an attempt to blend?
mountain trail:
kicked stone sails, then drops...
out of sight.
hermit climbs the hill:
clouds mask his ascent,
obscure the cavemouth.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 