Climbing the Tower with Friends at the Temple of Blessings Chu Guangxi This golden shrine and sacred spire, Are reaching upwards, always higher, To where the dark clouds hang. The world was calm and I was free; We climbed it in that clarity The start of autumn brings, When Kunming Pool was a piece of jade, And riotous plants and flowers made A display fit for spring. The Milky Way’s so high, they say, But anyone wandering by this way Will find it shimmering. Here form and formless, hand in hand, Swirl taiji eddies on the land So streams and mountains ring. Now thunder crashes, rainclouds roil, Gods and ghosts writhe and coil In the dim of evening. In flickering skies of sudden change, Our eyes don’t have the speed or range To take in everything. Above our caps, Heaven’s gate Stands open; peering down, we gape At swan-geese on the wing. The palaces and hills and halls Are nothing but a low-rise sprawl, A scattered crumpling. From sky to earth, a single glance Takes in the world’s impermanence Inspires me to stay and find The universal truths of mind That monks below us sing. But spire! In your immensity, However long I stay, you’ll be No less than dizzying. 储光羲 同诸公登慈恩寺塔 金祠起真宇,直上青云垂。 地静我亦闲,登之秋清时。 苍芜宜春苑,片碧昆明池。 谁道天汉高,逍遥方在兹。 虚形宾太极,携手行翠微。 雷雨傍杳冥,鬼神中躨跜。 灵变在倏忽,莫能穷天涯。 冠上阊阖开,履下鸿雁飞。 宫室低逦迤,群山小参差。 俯仰宇宙空,庶随了义归。 崱屴非大厦,久居亦以危。
Chu Guangxi followed Gao Shi’s poem closely. He introduces a more distinctively Buddhist theme, and more supernatural elements. But the suggestion that he might chuck it all in to be a monk rings rather empty. I can’t read any real passion for Buddhism into this poem. He is concerned mainly with following Gao’s form, playing the formal game of producing a poem that obeys convention and records their trip.
Notes:
Kunming Pool is a pool in Chang’an, presumably visible from the top of the tower then.
I need to reference that. Thank you!
Back to back home runs!
High-fives all around.
The catcher spits into the dust as the hurler leaves the mound.
Oh so sorry, but your last two posts: inspiring.
These are the compelling lines I took from the first poem, Gao’ and then from the second by Chu’.
Gao
“Or I perhaps am now a king
Of every seen and unseen thing:
I’ve left the mortal sphere.”
Chu
From sky to earth, a single glance
Takes in the world’s impermanence
Inspires me to stay and find
The universal truths of mind
That monks below us sing.
Me
Thank you for the great background and for the analysis.