Poem for the Year of the Ox

Delighting in the Rain on a Spring Night
By Du Fu
Translated by Greg Whincup


The good rain
Knows the seasons.
It comes in the spring.

On the wind,
It infiltrates the night,
Moistening everything,
Soundless and fine.

Paths in the fields--
Dark with cloud.
Boats on the river--
Their lamps the only light.

In the morning,
There will be spots
Of wet red:
Flowers will be heavy
In the City of Brocade.


[emailed in by shirley lua]