Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A DREAM OF MOUNTAINEERING, by PO CHU-YI Poem Explanation Poet's Biography First Line: At night, in my dream, I stoutly climbed a mountain Last Line: Between the two, I get as much as I lose. Alternate Author Name(s): Bai Juyi; Bo Juyi; Po Chu-i; Lo T'ien; Jyu-yi Subject(s): China - Tang Dynasty (618-905); Dreams; Mountain Climbing; Sleep; Nightmares | ||||||||
AT night, in my dream, I stoutly climbed a mountain, Going out alone with my staff of holly-wood. A thousand crags, a hundred hundred valleys -- In my dream-journey none were unexplored And all the while my feet never grew tired And my step was as strong as in my young days. Can it be that when the mind travels backward The body also returns to its old state? And can it be, as between body and soul, That the body may languish, while the soul is still strong? Soul and body -- both are vanities: Dreaming and waking -- both alike unreal. In the day my feet are palsied and tottering; In the night my steps go striding over the hills. As day and night are divided in equal parts -- Between the two, I get as much as I lose. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...VARIATIONS: 14 by CONRAD AIKEN VARIATIONS: 18 by CONRAD AIKEN LIVE IT THROUGH by DAVID IGNATOW A DREAM OF GAMES by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN THE DREAM OF WAKING by RANDALL JARRELL APOLOGY FOR BAD DREAMS by ROBINSON JEFFERS GIVE YOUR WISH LIGHT by ROBINSON JEFFERS MADLY SINGING IN THE MOUNTAINS by PO CHU-YI AFTER GETTING DRUNK, BECOMING SOBER IN THE NIGHT by PO CHU-YI |
|