Ted Rule: Four poems in translation

Snow at Night

Abrupt awake, my quilt and pillow cold
Light through the paper of my courtyard door
Deep in the night, heavy snow
At times the sound of bamboo cracking

Bo Juyi, translated by Ted Rule

Five Poems on a Spring Day, No. 1

A night of rain and distant thunder
Emerging light shimmering on blue green tiles
New buds cradling spring tears
Rose branches drooping weakly in dawn light

Qin Guan, translated by Ted Rule

Song on an Autumn Night

The ticking of a clock, the dripping of a tap, the night stretches forever.
The moon scuds between endless wisps of cloud
Hidden insects chirp in dark autumn corners …
Oh please no frost tonight … I haven’t sent his winter battledress

Zhang Zhongsu, translated by Ted Rule

An Ambassador Travelling on Duty

A lone carriage at the frontier
Crossing the state of Juyan
A tumbleweed blown from our borders
A wild goose flying back to the world of the Turks
In the vast desert a single plume of smoke
The sun a brilliant ball sinking into the endless river
Xiaoguan, we meet a mounted patrol
Our troops have reached Yan

Wang Wei, translated by Ted Rule