Li Po the Chinese Poet
��Now among a thousand precipices my way wound round
and round; Flowers choked the path; I leaned against a rock; I
swooned.
��Roaring bears and howling dragons roused me — Oh, the clamorous waters of the rapids!
I trembled in the deep forest, and shuddered at the over- hanging crags, one heaped upon another.
Clouds on clouds gathered above, threatening rain;
The waters gushed below, breaking into mist.
A peal of blasting thunder! The mountains crumbled. The stone gate of the hollow heaven Opened wide, revealing A vasty realm of azure without bottom, Sun and moon shining together on gold and silver palaces.
Clad in rainbow and riding on the wind, The ladies of the air descended like flower-flakes; The faery lords trooping in, they were thick as hemp- stalks in the fields.
Phoenix birds circled their cars, and panthers played
upon harps. Bewilderment filled me, and terror seized on my heart. I lifted myself in amazement, and alas! I woke and found my bed and pillow — Gone was the radiant world of gossamer.
So with all pleasures of life. All things pass with the east-flowing water. [116]
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