Li Po Addresses Meng Hao-Jan

Li Po Addresses Meng Hao-Jan

In ruddy youth you put aside
   The gauds men set their dreams upon,
And let who would aspire to ride
   In high official cars, or don
   Official head-dress ; quite foregone,
With you, was all such vain desire;
You set your hope and heart to aspire
   To a loftier and a lovelier blue:
Wherefore my soul can never tire,
   O Mountain-Man, of honouring you!

You took the peaks to be your guide,
   And mountain waters far and wan;
The moon, and midnight, starry-eyed;
   Trees, and the autumn hues thereon.
   You put the mountains’ beauty on,
And made yourself as free as they
From all that hides the Ancient Way
   The seers of old, and sages, knew:
Wherefore, Meng Hao-Jan, night and day
   My soul delights to honour you !

And now your hair is white, betide
   What may, or hap what will, you con
The stars’ script still; nor pomp nor pride
   Of courts can lure or move you; none
   Of us that wander here and yon
Can tell what secret splendour glows
For you in every flower that blows
   Among your hills, or what the dew
And moonlight teach you; and none knows,
   Meng Hao-Jan, how I honour you!

The lofty mountain is descried
From all the plain: he cannot hide
   His grandeur from the common view.
So shines your influence far and wide,
   Meng Hao-Jan! All men honour you!

The Dublin Magazine, July-September 1933