Looking at the Moon After Rain
translated by Florence Ayscough and Amy Lowell
The heavy clouds are broken and blowing,
And once more I can see the wide common stretching beyond the four sides of the city.
Open the door. Half of the moon-toad is already up,
The glimmer of it is like smooth hoar-frost spreading over ten thousand li.
The river is a flat, shining chain.
The moon, rising, is a white eye to the hills;
After it has risen, it is the bright heart of the sea.
Because I love it—so—round as a fan,
I hum songs until the dawn.
Credit
This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on May 30, 2021, by the Academy of American Poets.
About this Poem
“Looking at the Moon After Rain” appeared in Fir-Flower Tablets (Houghton Mifflin & Company, 1921).
Author
Li Bai
Li Bai, also known as Li Po (李白), Li Bo, and Li Pai, was a Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty likely born in 701. After growing up in the Sichuan province, Li Po left home to sail the Yangzi River, beginning the journeys documented in his poetry.
Date Published
01/01/1921