We are both idle guests in the garden, facing together the bleak day of rain and snow.
The firefly’s glow is ultimately not fire; the dew on the lotus, though round, is surely not a pearl.
In March, days are all bright white; parting with old spring, I am still reluctant. — Bai Juyi, 'Willow Catkins'
By chance meeting the second Double Ninth in a leap autumn, I drink alone by the eastern hedge, feeling serene and at ease. — Bai Juyi, 'Drinking Alone on the Ninth Day of the Ninth Month in a Leap Year'
In the palace, the moonlight carries a sorrowful hue; in the night rain, the sound of the bell breaks my heart.
I stop my carriage to ask the way ahead; the path lies within the autumn clouds. The bleak road south of the county, the journey begins from here. Suddenly climbing to the peak, I look down upon all the mountains. Looking down at a thousand and ten thousand peaks, their summits rise like waves. — Bai Juyi, 'Written on First Leaving Lantian Road'
My shadow is separated like geese flying a thousand miles apart; leaving the root, I scatter like thistledown in the ninth autumn moon. Looking together at the bright moon, we should shed tears; for one night, our homesick hearts are the same in five places. — Bai Juyi, 'Feeling Upon Gazing at the Moon'
Times are hard, the year is barren, worldly business is empty; brothers travel afar, each to the west and east. Fields are desolate after war and strife; flesh and blood are scattered on the roads. My shadow is separated like geese flying a thousand miles apart; leaving the root, I scatter like thistledown in the ninth autumn moon. Looking together at the bright moon, we should shed tears; for one night, our homesick hearts are the same in five places. — Bai Juyi, 'Feeling Upon Gazing at the Moon'
In the fourth month of the human world, fragrant flowers are spent; in the mountain, peach blossoms have just begun to bloom. I always regret that spring returns without a trace, not knowing it has turned to come here. — Bai Juyi
Life is a puzzle, death is a puzzle; extraordinary objects bewitch people, and one cannot forget them. Humans are not wood or stone, all have feelings; it is better not to meet a beauty whose beauty topples cities. — Bai Juyi, 'Lady Li'
The faint remaining lamp casts shadows against the wall; the rustling dark rain beats against the window.
One tree in spring wind has ten million branches, tenderer than gold, softer than silk.
Come like a spring dream, not for long; go like morning clouds, nowhere to be found. — Bai Juyi, 'Flower is Not Flower'
Male and female birds call in the air, their voices ending, calling out but not returning. — Bai Juyi
The prime minister’s stomach can hold a ship. — Bai Juyi