Climbing West Of Lotus Flower Peak Poem by Li Po

Climbing West Of Lotus Flower Peak

Rating: 2.9


Amongst the grandeur of Hua Shan
I climb to the Flower Peak,
and fancy I see fairies and immortals
carrying lotus in their
sacred white hands, robes flowing
they fly filling the sky with colour
as they rise to the palace of heaven,
inviting me to go to the cloud stage
and see Wei Shu-ching, guardian angel
of Hua Shan; so dreamily I go with them
riding to the sky on the back
of wild geese which call as they fly,
but when we look below at Loyang,
not so clear because of the mist,
everywhere could be seen looting
armies, which took Loyang, creating
chaos and madness with blood
flowing everywhere; like animals of prey
rebel army men made into officials
with caps and robes to match.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
* Sunprincess * 13 September 2015

....incredible poem with images of war ★

1 0 Reply
David Fischer 29 January 2007

The difficulty with metaphors is that they lose translations over time and over languages. A Lotus-Flower is romantic and distant as a metaphor. It is tradition and fatalistic mixed into to one fragile flower. Seek to preserve the flower and you kill it. Leave it behind, pristine, and you are without it, but for your (cherised) thoughts. Connecting with tradition and the seasons, mounted on a goose, calling into the void of the sky not in vain (but who else would listen?) , watching rebels become bureaucrats, cyclical, seduction, force of arms, watched from afar. Day dreamer, hiding from the truth, escaping, yet critical and not proactive. A day dream and no place to land.

2 0 Reply
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Li Po

Li Po

Chu / Kazakhstan
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