Li Bai is as quiet as a mouse (honest!)
With apologies to Emily Dickinson
A Night in a Mountain Temple
Li Bai
.
Dizzying tower—
A hundred feet tall—
My hands can pluck
The stars of dawn.
.
Our voices must stay
Low and even;
I fear to startle
Those in Heaven.
Li Bai is the most contradictory of poets. Like Emily Dickinson, he hides his most cosmic ruminations within the simplest language. Almost every Li Bai statement seems to contain its opposite: the bold assertion that he can pluck the stars reminds us forcefully that even from the highest tower, the stars are still equally distant; his claim to fear making too much noise leads me to think that he yelled as loud as he could from that tower; his worry about startling the heavens underlines his frustration that heaven is not responding to him.
李白 夜宿山寺
危楼高百尺，手可摘星辰。
不敢高声语，恐惊天上人。