–Li Bai
The sunlit Censer Peak exhales incense-like cloud;
Like an upended stream the cataract sounds loud.
Its torrent dashes down three thousand feet from high,
As if the Silver River fell from the blue sky.
望庐山瀑布
–李白
日照香炉生紫烟，
遥看瀑布挂前川。
飞流直下三千尺，
疑是银河落九天。
Note
Li Bai has two particularly famous poems about Mount Lu. One is “Gazing on the Mount Lu Waterfall,” written in 725 AD. The other is “Song of Mount Lu: To Censor Lu Xuzhou,” written in 760 AD, during the final two years of his life. These two poems span 35 years, and also span the entirety of Li Bai’s turbulent and poetic life.
The first time he came to Mount Lu, he was only 25 years old. He had left Shu with his sword, bid farewell to his family, and begun his long travels. Dressed in white, he journeyed eastward cheerfully along the Yangtze River. At that time, he had aspirations and dreams; the world was brand new to him. When he was exhausted from his journey and desperately needed rest, the Mount Lu waterfall burst into his view. The peaks were towering, clouds and mist gathered and dispersed, and he felt as insignificant as a speck of dust. As he gazed, the poem naturally took form.
The last time Li Bai saw Mount Lu, he was already 60 years old, in the twilight of his life. The previous year, he had been fortunate to receive a pardon while en route to exile in Yelang, and he traveled from Jiangling to Mount Lu in Jiujiang, following a route similar to his first journey. Why did he return to Mount Lu at this point in his life? He was at an unprecedented low. His glory had faded, and his future was bleak. What was he still holding onto? What did he write upon returning to Mount Lu after 35 years?
“I am the madman of Chu, who sang phoenix songs and laughed at Confucius.
Holding a staff of green jade, I left the Yellow Crane Tower at dawn.
Climbing high, I gaze upon the vastness between heaven and earth;
The great river flows endlessly, never to return.
For ten thousand miles, yellow clouds shift with the winds;
Through nine streams, white waves surge like a snowy mountain.”
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