She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meets in her aspect and her eyes,
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress
Or softly lightens o'er her face,
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek and o'er that brow
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow
But tell of days in goodness spent,--
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent.
I ventured beyond civilization,
and (by man's definition) I was lost.
I knew no near city, state, or nation.
Who knows what backwoods borders I'd crossed?
I'd drifted down streams: still and rapid tossed,
and when boat filled faster than I could bale,
I took to foot. Onward at any cost!
I passed over mountains and through their vales,
and trudged the badlands, unparted by trails.
But he who's lost is often he who finds,
and I learned history's forfeit details
in form of ruins in a sheltered blind.
Oh! What novel and beautiful sights
are had by lost souls in eternal nights!
I dwell in Possibility --
A fairer House than Prose --
More numerous of Windows --
Superior -- for doors --
Of Chambers as the Cedars --
Impregnable of eye --
And for an everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky --
Of Visitors -- the fairest --
For Occupation -- This --
The spreading wide of my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise --
A pot of wine, under blossoms.
I drink alone, no friends in sight.
I raise a cup to lustrous Moon:
Me, Moon, and Shadow will make three.
But Moon is a teetotaler.
And Shadow just skulks at my feet.
Still, Moon & Shadow are my chums.
We need a bash before Spring's end.
But my singing makes Moon recoil.
And Shadow flops hard when I dance.
At first, we have a grand old time,
But we part ways when I drift off.
We should keep this epic friendship rolling,
and meet again in the River of Stars.
NOTE: I produced this “translation” / arrangement, using translations by Arthur Waley, Ezra Pound, and that of “The Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry” [ed. by Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping] to get varied takes on the source poem.
I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
I've known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 