Nature Chinese Poems

CHINESE TRANSLATIONS IV

These are English translations of Chinese poems about nature, the seasons, autumn, winter, spring, night, time, tears, flowers and love. 

Seeking a Mooring
by...

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LAO TZU ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS III

The Valley Spirit
by Lao Tzu, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The valley Spirit never runs dry,
the river to whom all waters...

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Its style is a journey for my mind
providing a world onto itself
with miles to meander
and crevasses to explore
with paths to follow
allowing my soul to wander



AP:...

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2025.2.2, CNY 5th day
There are twelve Zodiac in Chinese Fung Shiu.
Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon and Snake
Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar.
There were terms...

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The Chinese Pistachia


You came to us

a fragile seedling child

with so many names 

that did not fit

your grace and lithefulness


each season of your growth

and vibrant orange change

I...

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I sit
reading poems of Chinese sages
with their paintings of mountains and mist
from a thousand years ago.
Outside, snow falls like it did then,
and inside, I muse...

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Dumplings 

As I walk into the kitchen, for a snack, 
my mother, her apron, night black hair, and jade bracelet, 
 makes me dumplings.
She combines...

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gentle opulence 
	bright symbol of reunion ~
		yuè yuán zhi yè

(October Full Moon – Chinese) 
*yuè yuán zhi yè indicates the night when the moon has...

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Epigrams VII

A question that sometimes drives me hazy: 
am I or are the others crazy?
—Albert Einstein, poetic interpretation by Michael R. Burch


The Whole of Wit
by...

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The Shijing or Shi Jing or Shih-Ching (“Book of Songs” or “Book of Odes”) is the oldest Chinese poetry collection, with the poems included believed...

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Chinese Translations III

Quiet Night Thoughts
by Li Bai aka Li Po
translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Moonlight illuminates my bed
as frost brightens the ground.
Lifting my eyes, the moon...

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Chinese Freestyle Poem

To be a crane upon a mountainside
Would be a fine, indeed.
To be lapis-lazuli
Would also be noble.

Somehow the wind blowing in Wintertime
Makes one long...

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These are translations of some of the oldest Japanese waka, which evolved into tanka, renga and haiku. 

While you decline to cry,
high on the mountainside
a...

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Grasses wilt:
the braking locomotive
grinds to a halt
—Yamaguchi Seishi, translation by Michael R. Burch

Oh, fallen camellias,
if I were you,
I'd leap into the torrent!
—Takaha Shugyo, translation by...

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There were five Chinese brothers who all looked alike, living happily with their mother.
They each possess strange powers that were all different to the others....

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