Leaving My Brother

In Zhengzhou 


                           I am drunk,

                                 dazed without wine,

                           my heart chases after

                                 the horse carrying

                                 my brother home,

                           who returns to our father;

                           while I,

                                 how will I

                                 assuage my loneliness?

                           I climb high

                                 and turn my head

                                 toward the hills,

                           see only his black hat

                                 emerge,

                                 recede.

                           I worry about you,

                                 my brother--

                           your clothes are too thin

                           you ride alone

                                 in the bleak moonlight.

                           Here, passersby sing cheerfully,

                                 houses are filled with joy,

                           my servant cannot feel

                                 my misery.

                           I also know

                                 my life will have

                                 much sorrow,

                           how will I bear

                                 the weight

                                 of so many partings?

                           In the cold light

                                 face to face

                                 we read books,

                                 chant poems,

                           listen to the night rain,

                                 the desolate silence.

                           You know we never can forget

                                 this word,

                                 not to seek

                                 official favor,

                                 life's vain rewards.

                                                   --Su Dongpo

Translated by Professor Maybury