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Oxen and sheep were brought back down
Long ago, and bramble gates closed. Over
Mountains and rivers, far from my old garden,
A windswept moon rises into clear night.
Springs trickle down dark cliffs, and autumn
Dew fills ridgeline grasses. My hair seems
Whiter in lamplight. The flame flickers
Good fortune over and over -- and for what?
Tu Fu
Read poems about / on: autumn, hair, moon, dark, night, river, rose, spring
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Click here to write your comments about this poem (Day's End by Tu Fu)
Michael Pruchnicki (5/26/2008 12:01:00 PM)
A two stanza poem by Tu Fu portrays in brief the thoughts of an aging man as he contemplates both the beauty and brevity of life.
The first stanza delineates livestock being brought down from summer pasture long ago and the gates closed for the autumn and the onslaught of cold winter snows and ice. A cold moon rises suggests the drawing to a close of one season in preparation for another.
The speaker sees his white hair is even whiter in the flickering light of the candle.
This image suggests the onset of old age and eventual death. Though fortune has smiled on him, he puts forth the plaintive question 'For what? ' There seems to be no good reason for someone at his stage in life to be looking forward. Of course, the last stanza suggests the answer-'Day's End'. Even grasses growing on the ridgeline benefit from the last warm days of autumn. |
Ray Rasmussen (4/2/2007 10:11:00 AM)
Nice to read the old poets from 1300 years ago also wondering about the why of this short journey. Delilah, this poem isn't about you and Jesus, it's about Tu Fu and his sensibilities.
Ray |
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