A POEM SENT TO TU FU FROM SHA CH'IU CH'ÊNG
Florence Wheelock Ayscough translation
BY LI T'AI-PO
After all, what have I come here to do? To lie and meditate at Sha Ch'iu Ch'êng. Near the city are ancient trees, And day and night are continuous with Autumn noises. One cannot get drunk on Lu wine, The songs of Ch'i have no power to excite emotion. I think of my friend, and my thoughts are like the Wên River, Mightily moving, directed toward the South.