The Cold Clear Spring

The Cold Clear Spring

From the Chinese of Li Po (A.D. 702-762)

Blue night o’er the mountain wilds—but there’s company here,
   For the Cold Clear Spring is quietly chattering so:
   A ripple and twitter of tune that I ought to know
Is caught or wrought in the rush-rimmed waters clear.
A wild little witch of a runlet, lonely and dear,
   In the mountain wilds, and the wind in the pines to blow—
Night broods in the sky—but there’s excellent company here
   While the Cold Clear Spring is quietly chattering so.

I know—’tis the songs I left unsung I hear—
   The songs unsung and the thoughts unspoken flow
   In its lilt and twitter and ripple and whispering low;
And the wind in the pines is the lutanist.—Dark and drear
Night broods o’er the mountain wilds—but there’s merriment here
   While the Cold Clear Spring is quietly chattering so. . . .

The Theosophical Path, July 1918