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Florence Chia-ying Yeh Chao

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An Outing at Yeh-liu*

i
So late to waken from our purely human dream
Water-pocked sand and scoured — this makes us think.
The ocean floor rises here before the eyes —
It’s true then, gulfs extrude, and bear trees.

ii
Master T’ao raised a cup and drank. His longtime admirer
Today in this land of refuge enjoys the sea clouds.
The wine I must refuse, being ill, but not intoxication —
I am drunk from looking out over misty waves.

iii
I might imitate Li Po and laugh at Confucius,
For ten years I dreamed of going to the Magic Isle.
When can I cast my headcloth to the winds
And with streaming hair and raincape row my boat away?

iv
The tide sounds are like a Buddhist chant,
The tide withdraws and leaves traces of an old dream.
As I look for a pearly shell in the empty sands,
Through a whole sky of ocean air dusk comes on.

 

* Yeh-liu is the name of a scenic spot on the northern shore of Taiwan, which is situated between Taipei and Keelung. There are many rocks of different strange shapes. It was supposed that this was the bottom of the sea millions of years ago.

Translated by James R. Hightower

Page(s) 63

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