Question and Answer in the Mountains -- Li Po

(Poem #916) Question and Answer in the Mountains They ask me why I live in the green mountains. I smile and don't reply; my heart's at ease. Peach blossoms flow downstream, leaving no trace -- And there are other earths and skies than these. -- Li Po

[Provenance]

 Mandarin Chinese, mid-8th century.
 Translated by Vikram Seth, in "Three Chinese Poets" (Faber 1992).

[Commentary]

 Li Po combines the elegant, evocative minimalism of haiku with the oblique
philosophy of the best Zen koans, and mixes them both with a romantic
mysticism that's entirely his own [1]. His poems are suffused with an air of
otherworldliness, a melancholy that's not quite sad, a joy that's not quite
happy. And he's a consummate craftsman, wonderfully adept at getting the
most out of the least: with a few deft strokes of the calligrapher's brush,
he creates worlds of meaning, "other earths and skies than these". Mmmmm.

thomas.

[1] Note to the nitpick-inclined: Yes, I know, Li Po's poetry predates both
the invention of the haiku form, and the founding of the Zen school of
Buddhism. So sue me.

[Minstrels Links]

 Li Po:
Poem #504, About Tu Fu
Poem #683, To Tu Fu from Shantung
Poem #749, Parting
Poem #794, In the Quiet Night
Poem #826, Self-Abandonment
Poem #916, Question and Answer in the Mountains

 Vikram Seth:
Poem #650, All You Who Sleep Tonight
Poem #754, Protocols
Poem #460, Round and Round

 Another of the Three Chinese Poets of Seth's book:
Poem #855, Lady Xi -- Wang Wei