Dreaming Of Li Bai (2)
Clouds drifting the whole day;
a traveler traveling who never arrives.
Three nights you have been in my dreams;
as your friend, I knew your mind.
You say your return is always harrowing;
your coming, a hard coming;
Rivers, lakes, so many waves;
in your boat you fear overturning.
Going out the door, you scratch your white head
as if the purpose of your whole life was ruined,
The rich and high positioned fill the Capital,
while you, alone, are careworn and dejected.
Who says the net of heaven is cast wide?
Growing older, you only grow more preyed upon.
One thousand autumns, ten thousand years of fame,
are nothing after death.
Related quotes
Dreaming of Li Po
After the separation of death one can eventually swallow back one's grief, but
the separation of the living is an endless, unappeasable anxiety. From
pestilent Chiang-nan no news arrives of the poor exile. That my old friend
should come into my dream shows how constantly he is in my thoughts. I fear
that this is not the soul of a living man: the journey is so immeasurably far.
When your soul left, the maple woods were green: on its return the passes were
black with night. Lying now enmeshed in the net of the law, how did you find
wings with which to fly here? The light of the sinking moon illumines every
beam and rafter of my chamber, and I half expect it to light up your face. The
water is deep, the waves are wide: don't let the water-dragons get you.
All day long the floating clouds drift by, and still the wanderer has not
arrived! For three nights running I have repeatedly dreamed of you. Such
affectionate concern on your part shows your feelings for me! Each time you
said goodbye you seemed so uneasy. `It isn't easy to come', you would say
bitterly; `The waters are so rough. I am afriad the boat will capsize!' Going
out of my door you scratched your white head as if your whole life's ambition
had been frustrated.
The Capital is full of new officials, yet a man like this is so wretched!
Who is going to tell me that the `net is wide' when this ageing man
remains in difficulties? Imperishable renown is cold comfort when you can only
enjoy it in the tomb!
The Tune of The Wild Geese’s Tomb
Among the earthly mortals, I ask: what is Love
That engages couples through life and death?
This flying pair, traveling from south to north,
Had old wings, which survived several summers and winters.
Staying paired is happy,
But to severe, bitter: a trap in itself where devoted lovers
Still long to be trapped. He must have had a thought:
For whom shall I trail a forlorn shadow flying over
Ten thousand miles of gray clouds
And mountains of night snow?
On this road by Fen River, the old pipes, and drums
Are gone. Only bleak smoke and vast woods are left.
Vain to evoke the ancient ghosts. The Mountain Spirit
Also, wails in vain. Heaven envies the geese,
Not believing they’ll return to dust like orioles
And swallows. There they’ll remain, for a thousand
Autumns, awaiting the poets of later generations
Who is coming, rhapsodizing and quaffing
Just for a view of the wild geese’s tomb.
poem by Yuan Haowen
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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Twenty-Two Rhymes To Left-Prime-Minister Wei
Boys in fancy clothes never starve,
but Confucian scholars often find their lives in ruin.
Please listen to my explanation, Sir,
I, your humble student, ask permission to state my case.
When I was a younger Du Fu
I was honored as a national distinguished guest
and wore out ten thousand books in reading,
My brush was always inspired by gods,
my rhymed essays rivaled those of Yang Xiong,1
my poems were kin with those of Cao Zijian.2
Li Yong looked for a chance to meet me,
and even Wang Han3 wanted to be my neighbor.
I thought I was an outstanding person,
positioned at a key ferryboat route
and would assist an emperor like Yao or Shun,4
and make folk customs honest and simple again.
In the end this ambition withered.
I became a bard instead of a hermit,
and spent thirty years traveling on a donkey,
ate traveler's rations in the luxury of the capital,
knocked on the door of the rich in the morning,
walked in the dust of fat horses in the evening,
ate leftover dishes and half-finished wine.
Wherever I went, I found misery hiding beneath.
When the emperor summoned me,
I was excited at this chance to stretch myself .
I saw blue sky but my wings just hung.
I was set back, had no scales to swim far.
I feel unworthy of your kindness,
and I know your sincerity:
in the presence of one hundred officials,
you read my best poems.
I am as happy as Gong Gong.5
Since it's hard to imitate Confucius disciple Yuan Xian6
How can I feel unhappy about anything,
though my feet still drag as usual?
Now I plan to move east to the sea,
and leave the capital behind me in the west.
But I still feel attached to the Zhongnan Mountain,
and turn my head to look at the Wei River.
I think about my gratitude for one meal7
as I take departure from you, Prime Minister.
This white gull is lost in the waves.
Who can tame him in his journey of ten thousand miles?
Coming Home
It's a long and lonely highway.
When you're traveling all alone.
I was on my way to nowhere.
But now i'm coming home.
I'm coming home.
I've been running through the fire.
I've been running for so long.
If i took it any higher.
Baby i would be still be gone.
But now i'm coming home, coming home.i'm coming home.
Coming home, coming home, i'm coming home.
Well my home was really never.
On a far and distant shore.
If i stayed away forever.
I could never miss you more.
And so i'm coming home,coming home.i'm coming home.
Coming home,coming home,i'm coming home.
I think of all these years gone by.
Never even wondered why.
I never touched the ground.
All the time that's come and gone.
All the nights i've been alone.
And now i'm homeward bound.
I heard the thunder over canaan.
And i've heard the angels cry.
And their voices came revealing
"as you live,so will you die."
I'm coming home,coming home,i'm coming home.
I'm coming home,coming home,i'm coming home.
Coming home, coming home, i'm coming home
I'm coming home
I'm coming home, coming home, coming home...
song performed by by Roy Orbison
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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10,000 Men
Ten thousand men on a hill,
Ten thousand men on a hill,
Some of m goin down, some of m gonna get killed.
Ten thousand men dressed in oxford blue,
Ten thousand men dressed in oxford blue,
Drummin in the morning, in the evening theyll be coming for you.
Ten thousand men on the move,
Ten thousand men on the move,
None of them doing nothin that your mama wouldnt disapprove.
Ten thousand men digging for silver and gold,
Ten thousand men digging for silver and gold,
All clean shaven, all coming in from the cold.
Hey! who could your lover be?
Hey! who could your lover be?
Let me eat off his head so you can really see!
Ten thousand women all dressed in white,
Ten thousand women all dressed in white,
Standin at my window wishing me goodnight.
Ten thousand men looking so lean and frail,
Ten thousand men looking so lean and frail,
Each one of em got seven wives, each one of em just out of jail.
Ten thousand women all sweepin my room,
Ten thousand women all sweepin my room,
Spilling my buttermilk, sweeping it up will a broom.
Ooh, baby, thank you for my tea!
Baby, thank you for my tea!
Its so sweet of you to be so nice to me.
song performed by by Bob Dylan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Life Or Death
what is life without death
what is death without life
people comes from the big blue sky
people fly up high when they die
their familys start to cry
life is cold
to the bold
want to turn in to gold
but life is getting old
death is black
like a black cat
hard to know when death is coming
but death is coming
so live your life to the fullest
and to the goodest
cause soon death will knocking at your door
so you would just be laying in your death bed
with nothing to say
with one thing in your head
is this LIFE or DEATH
poem by Demarcus Walker
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Thousand Years
I have lived out a thousand years,
And in them was tranquillity, peace
And various species, offering escape.
Soon the light from the sun shines
In the days and not the nights,
The never-ending life begins at home.
A thousand years have passed,
Underneath the sky of clouds
And stars shining brightly forever.
I have lived out my enemies
Forced by the military, affecting me.
This station of importance
Decides to turn into a cradle.
I walk among the clouds
After a thousand years of worry,
Filling everybody with awe and inspiration,
But not with nights and days of ancient kind.
poem by Naveed Akram
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I Have To Cross The Great Ocean
I have to cross the great ocean
with my little boat
which has thousand holes
please tell my friend
how to cross the great ocean
The waves of the ocean are too high
than that of height of mount Everest
thousand Tsunamis are yet to come
please tell my friend
how to cross the great ocean
The little boat gifted to me by my Lord
I do not find another boat
due to my carelessness there is thousand holes
no mechanics can repair it
but i have to cross the great ocean
please tell my friend
how to cross the great ocean
poem by Ramesh Rai
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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One Of These Nights
One of these nights
One of these crazy old nights
Were gonna find out
Pretty mama
What turns on your lights
The full moon is calling
The fever is high
And the wicked wind whispers
And moans
You got your demons
You got desires
Well, I got a few of my own
Oo, someone to be kind to in
Between the dark and the light
Oo, coming right behind you
Swear Im gonna find you
One of these nights
One of these dreams
One of these lost and lonely dreams
Were gonna find one
One that really screams
Ive been searching for the daughter
Of the devil himself
Ive been searching for an angel in white
Ive been waiting for a woman whos a little
Of both
And I can feel her but shes nowhere
In sight
Oo, loneliness will blind you
In between the wrong and the right
Oo, coming right behind you
Swear Im gonna find you
One of these nights
One of these nights
In between the dark and the light
Coming right behind you
Swear Im gonna find you
Get ya baby one of these nights
One of these nights
One of these nights
I can feel it
I can feel it
One of these nights
Coming right behind you
Swear Im gonna find you now
One of these nights..etc....
song performed by by Eagles
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Welcome To Paradise
I kissed my mother
Shook the hand of my brother
And I said goodbye to the woman I loved
It may seem like a madness
To be leaving the love nest
But Im taking a chance on a place far away
Welcome to paradise
Who said you cant live twice
You will find heaven is here on earth
Welcome to paradise
Did somebody say . . .
Theres a coup coming on
Theres a coup coming on
Theres a coup coming on
Theres a coup coming on
A coup coming on
Bad vibrations (theres a coup coming on)
Feeling the tension (theres a coup coming on)
No smoke without fire (theres a coup coming on)
I could smell the danger
Never dance with a stranger
But the music took me and soon I was lost
So I questioned a lady
But her answers were crazy
And before I knew I was counting the cost
Welcome to paradise
Love it but dont look twice
Youll soon be living in make believe
Welcome to paradise
Did somebody say . . .
Theres a coup coming on
Theres a coup coming on
Theres a coup coming on
Theres a coup coming on
A coup coming on
Somebody help me (theres a coup coming on)
(welcome to paradise)
So much I dont follow (theres a coup coming on)
(welcome to paradise)
Im not looking for trouble (theres a coup coming on)
(welcome to paradise)
Theres a coup coming on
A coup coming on
I shouldnt have come
No I shouldnt have come
Why did I come, hey!
The clouds were gathering
And the temperature rising
Be no turning back all my bridges were burned
Then it hit me, jumped up and bit me
Now Im under your spell I can never return
This is your paradise
Now you must pay the price
You should have flown
When the coup was blown
Welcome to paradise
Did somebody say . . .
Theres a coup coming on
Theres a coup coming on
Theres a coup coming on
Theres a coup coming on
A coup coming on
A band on the run
Annie get your gun
song performed by by 10 Cc
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Boat and The Sea
I will tell you, my Dear
Story of the Boat and the Sea
'Since the unknown time
The Boat heard the call from the Sea
Wings of Gull, blue waves
Took Boat traveled everywhere, all ways
The Boat's soul's filled with hopes
And the Sea's boundless love
Boat went far, further no tiresome
The Sea was still far...so far
Those nights the moon was gentle
The sea was like a girl, who's little
She whispered, she sent her thoughts
Round the boatside, waves elapsed
Sometimes, causeless
The Sea, its waves, pourred impetuously in the Boat
(Because of Love, for all times, ever was just imovable?)
Only the Boat understood
How boundless the Sea was
Only the Boat knew
Where the Boat went to, back to
The days without meeting
The sea was with white head, with missing
The days without gathering
The Boat was broken - crack
If already seperated from the Boat
The Sea only remained the wind and waves
...up and down, a craze'
If having to be separated from you
I just only remain storms
(composer: Xuân Quỳ nh, traslator: Hanh My Nguyen)
poem by Hanh My Nguyen
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Question
Why do we never get an answer
When were knocking at the door?
With a thousand million questions
About hate and death and war.
Its where we stop and look around us
There is nothing that we need.
In a world of persecution
That is burning in its greed.
Why do we never get an answer
When were knocking at the door?
Because the truth is hard to swallow
Thats what the wall of love is for.
Its not the way that you say it
When you do those things to me.
Its more the way that you mean it
When you tell me what will be.
And when you stop and think about it
You wont believe its true.
That all the love youve been giving
Has all been meant for you.
Im looking for someone to change my life.
Im looking for a miracle in my life.
And if you could see what its done to me
To lose the the love I knew
Could safely lead me through.
Between the silence of the mountains
And the crashing of the sea
There lies a land I once lived in
And shes waiting there for me.
But in the grey of the morning
My mind becomes confused
Between the dead and the sleeping
And the road that I must choose.
Im looking for someone to change my life.
Im looking for a miracle in my life.
And if you could see what its done to me
To lose the the love I knew
Could safely lead me to
The land that I once knew.
To learn as we grow old
The secrets of our souls.
Its not the way that you say it
When you do those things to me.
Its more the way you really mean it
When you tell me what will be.
Why do we never get an answer
When were knocking at the door?
With a thousand million questions
About hate and death and war.
Its where we stop and look around us
There is nothing that we need.
In a world of persecution
That is burning in its greed.
Why do we never get an answer
When were knocking at the door?
song performed by by Moody Blues
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Ten Thousand Men A Day
All the world was wearying,
All the world was sad;
Everything was shadow-filled;
Things were going bad.
Then a rumour stirred all hearts
As a wind stirs trees-
Ten thousand men a day
Coming over seas!
Soon we saw them marching by-
God! what a sight!-
Shoulders back, and heads erect,
Faces full of light.
Smiling like a morn in May,
Moving like a breeze,
Ten thousand men a day
Coming over seas.
Weary soldiers worn with war
Lifted up their eyes,
Shadows seemed to lift a bit,
Dawn was in the skies.
Hope sprang to troubled hearts,
Strength to tired knees:
Ten thousand men a day
Were coming over seas.
France and England swarmed with them,
Khaki-clad and young,
Filled with all the joy of life-
Into line they swung.
Waning valour rose anew
At the sight of these
Ten thousand men a day
Coming over seas.
Still they come-and still they come
In their strength and pride.
Victory with radiant mien
Marches on beside.
Victory is here to stay,
Every heart agrees,
With ten thousand men a day
Coming over seas.
poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
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deep in my heart i know God
deep in my heart
i know God as a friend
waiting for me
in the valleys and plains
for a thousand years
he was called Master
by the slaves and he
did not answer
for another thousand
years he is called the
Creator by his creatures
he did not listen
for another thousand years
he is called the Father
of his sons and he did not mind
until then when you call him
Your friend, your peer, your partner
did he look upon you and smile
and in this understanding
God has come, patting you on your shoulder
welcoming you to sit as a friend
on his table to take his glass
and drink the wine of eternity
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Barstool Blues
If I could hold on to just one thought
For long enough to know
Why my mind is moving so fast
And the conversation is slow.
Burn off all the fog
And let the sun through to the snow
Let me see your face again
Before I have to go.
I have seen you in the movies
And in those magazines at night
I saw you on the barstool when
You held that glass so tight.
And I saw you in my nightmares
But Ill see you in my dreams
And I might live a thousand years
Before I know what that means.
Once there was a friend of mine
Who died a thousand deaths
His life was filled with parasites
And countless idle threats.
He trusted in a woman
And on her he made his bets
Once there was a friend of mine
Who died a thousand deaths.
song performed by by Neil Young
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Old Dust
The living is a passing traveler;
The dead, a man come home.
One brief journey betwixt heaven and earth,
Then, alas! we are the same old dust of ten thousand ages.
The rabbit in the moon pounds the medicine in vain;
Fu-sang, the tree of immortality, has crumbled to kindling wood.
Man dies, his white bones are dumb without a word
When the green pines feel the coming of the spring.
Looking back, I sigh; looking before, I sigh again.
What is there to prize in the life's vaporous glory?
Universal Traveler
Universal Traveler - Air
(Talkie Walkie; Trans. by Tish)
I know so many
Places in the world
I follow the sun
In my silver plane
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
If you have a look
Outside on the sea
Everything is white
It's so wonderful
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
So far
So far
So far away
I met so many
People in my life
I've got many friends
Who can care for me
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Trust fills everywhere ?
And tomorrow
Is a brand new day
Let's go somewhere else
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
So far
So far
So far away
So far
So far
So far away
So far
So far
So far away
So far
So far
So far away
song performed by by Air
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Death Is The Beginning It's Not The End
From the day we are born we are dicing with death,
We have limited control over our final breath,
You may live for seconds or for many years,
Our demise is something everyone fears.
When will it happen do you wish you knew how?
Or perhaps you wouldn't if it was happening now,
When you're young and carefree you don't really care,
You tend not to think of when or where.
If an elderly relation in your family dies,
You ask yourself why everyone cries,
Why did they leave could it possibly be planned?
As a child it's so hard to understand.
As you grow older the thought crosses your mind,
It's then you realise death can be so unkind,
If there's a God is it he who chooses,
What's the criteria, who wins who loses.
Who is it that decides how you'll meet your fate,
Will it be early in life or will it be late,
Could it be through disease or perhaps old age?
To know this would take the mind of a sage.
You needn't fear death if you believe God is true,
Have faith in the Lord and he'll see you through,
The kingdom of Heaven is open to all races,
He has no interest in the colour of our faces.
A land of paradise where we're all as one,
Living in harmony, as for conflict there's none,
It may sound like a dream but God does not deceive,
There's life after death but you've got to believe.
The main lessons in life that need to be learned,
Are entry to His kingdom can only be earned,
If you wish to do otherwise your soul you can sell,
The rewards will be an eternity in Hell.
So you see there's no need to be in fear of dying,
The Good Lord has never been one for lying
By obeying Gods will to Heaven you'll ascend,
‘' Death Is The Beginning It's Not The End ‘'
There's a Good Time Coming
There's a good time coming in the golden by-and-by:
And I wish, oh, how I wish that it would come!
There's a wise day dawning, by the portents in the sky,
To usher in the glad millenium.
When heaven-sent technocracy displaces our democracy,
Goodbye to man's hypocrisy and greed.
But I wonder, oh, I wonder if we'll all be planted under
Ere the good time gladdens human need.
There's a good time coming, but the road we have to go
Is strewn with all the wreckage of the past.
And there's quite a lot of salvage ere we end this worldly woe
And gain the golden terminus at last.
The wonders of machinery that dominates our scenery
Have left the blundering ancients far behind;
But I wonder, oh, I wonder if we haven't made a blunder
In neglecting that machine, the human mind.
There's a good time coming; but the echo answers, 'When?'
And I wish, oh, I wish that I could say.
Two thousand years have scarce sufficed to change the minds of men;
We may hardly hope to change them in a day.
I would not cry calamity when others aim at amnity,
And hope within me ever conquered fear.
But I wonder, oh, I wonder, when the clouds are torn asunder,
If you and I are likely to be here.
poem by Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Mirage
How is it that, being gone, you fill my days,
And all the long nights are made glad by thee?
No loneliness is this, nor misery,
But great content that these should be the ways
Whereby the Fancy, dreaming as she strays,
Makes bright and present what she would would be.
And who shall say if the reality
Is not with dreams so pregnant. For delays
And hindrances may bar the wished-for end;
A thousand misconceptions may prevent
Our souls from coming near enough to blend;
Let me but think we have the same intent,
That each one needs to call the other, "friend!"
It may be vain illusion. I'm content.
poem by Amy Lowell
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