A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems/The Valley Wind

THE VALLEY WIND

By Lu Yün [fourth century A. D.]

Living in retirement beyond the World,
Silently enjoying isolation,
I pull the rope of my door tighter
And stuff my window with roots and ferns.
My spirit is tuned to the Spring-season:
At the fall of the year there is autumn in my heart.
Thus imitating cosmic changes
My cottage becomes a Universe.