Poetry

I enjoy all types of poetry with Chinese poetry being some of my favorite.

The Power of a Poem

By Lu Ji     (261-303 A.D. during the Six Dynasties Period)

The function of literature is to express the nature of nature.
It can’t be barred as it travels space
and boats across one hundred million years.
Gazing to the fore, I leave models for people to come;
looking aft, I learn from my ancestors.
It can save teetering governments and weak armies;
it gives voice to the dying wind of human virtue.
No matter how far, this road will take you there;
it will express the subtlest point.
It waters the heart like clouds and rain,
and shifts form like a changeable spirit.
Inscribed on metal and stone, it spreads virtue.
Flowing with pipes and strings, each day the poem is new.

(Translated by Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping)