Huazi Ridge, Wang Wei and Pei Di (Wangchuan Collection #2)

The birds go flying endlessly,
Mountain on mountain of autumn colors.
Ascending, descending Huazi Ridge—
When will this melancholy end?

    Sun sets, wind rises in the pines;
    Returning home, dew’s dried in the grass.
    With clouds alight, I tread on footprints;
    In green hills, brush off this one’s clothes.

华子冈

飞鸟去不穷，
连山复秋色。
上下华子冈，
惆怅情何极。

    落日松风起，
    还家草露晞。
    云光侵履迹，
    山翠拂人衣。

The orthodox Buddhist reaction to the fading of autumn is melancholy because it’s a reminder that we too shall fade. (This does, yes, also appear all over Japanese court poetry.) Pei literally brushes off a “person’s” clothes, which I read as a humble self-reference.

---L.