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Body, Shadow, and Spirit (3 of 3)
The Spirit Explains The great Creator acts without partiality;The myriad principles of the universe are clearly manifested.Of the Three Powers (Heaven, Earth, and Man),Is it not because of me, the Spirit, that humanity exists?Though I am a different entity from you two,We are bound together as long as we live.Since our fates are intertwined,How…
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Body, Shadow, and Spirit (1 of 3)
This poem is the first in a famous three-poem series where Tao Yuanming personifies three aspects of human existence: the physical Body, the Shadow, and the Spirit. This structure is deeply influenced by Buddhist and Daoist philosophical debates of the Wei-Jin period regarding the nature of the soul and the afterlife.
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Miscellaneous Poems (2 of 12)
The white sun sinks into the western river;The pale moon rises over the eastern ridge.For ten thousand miles, its boundless radiance gleams;Vast and clear, a brilliant expanse fills the sky.The wind sweeps through the doors and windows;In the dead of night, my pillow and mat grow cold.Sensing the changing air, I realize the seasons…
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Drinking Alone Under the Moon (1 of 4) [Tang Poems]
Amidst the flowers, a single pot of wine;I drink alone, with no companion near.I raise my cup to invite the bright moon,And with my shadow, we become a party of three.Yet the moon does not understand the joy of drinking,And my shadow merely tags along, a silent follower.For now, I’ll make the moon and…