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Tu Fu:
“Thoughts While Traveling at Night”
(23 Translations)
A Night Abroad
A light wind is rippling at the grassy shore. . . .
Through the night, to my motionless tall mast,
The stars lean down from open space,
And the moon comes running up the river.
. . . If only my art might bring me fame
And free my sick old age from office! —
Flitting, flitting, what am I like
But a sand-snipe in the wide, wide world!
Translated by Witter Bynner (1929)
A Traveller at Night Writes His Thoughts
Fine grass;
slight breeze
from bank;
High mast;
alone at night
in boat.
Over level widening
waste
stars droop-flowers;
Moon flows as water
on vast surging
stream.
Fame! is it
manifest by essays,
poems?
An official, old,
sick, should
rest.
What do I
resemble, blown by wind
blown by wind?
A gull on the sand
between Heaven
and Earth.
Literal character-by-character translation by Florence Ayscough (1934)
Thoughts While Traveling at Night
Between two shores of tender grass, in the slight breeze, Glides this lonely
high-masted boat. The stars seem to reach down to the fields, flat and wide; The
moon seems to be swimming as the Great River flows.
Am I really to achieve an honored name in literature? I ought to give up all
hopes of official service because of age and illness. To what shall I compare
myself, as I am blown about? Just a beach gull between heaven and earth.
Translated by William Hung (1952)
Night Thoughts While Travelling
A light breeze rustles the reeds
Along the river banks. The
Mast of my lonely boat soars
Into the night. Stars blossom
Over the vast desert of
Waters. Moonlight flows on the
Surging river. My poems have
Made me famous but I grow
Old, ill and tired, blown hither
And yon; I am like a gull
Lost between heaven and earth.
Translated by Kenneth Rexroth (1956)
Night Thoughts of a Traveller
Thin reeds, and from the land
A soft breeze; our mast stands
Tall and stark in the night
And I am alone; stars hang
Over the great plain, and
The moon moves with the flowing river;
Fame may not come together
With literary merit;
A broken-down, worn-out
Official should simply rest!
It seems I am but as a sand bird
Blown before the elements.
Translated by Rewi Alley (1962)
A Night Abroad
A light wind is rippling at the grassy shore. . . .
Through the night, to my motionless tall mast,
The stars lean down from open space,
And the moon comes running up the river.
. . . If only my art might bring me fame
And free my sick old age from office! —
Flitting, flitting, what am I like
But a sand-snipe in the wide, wide world!
Translated by A.R. Davis (1962)
Traveling night write thoughts
Fine grass slight wind bank
Tall mast lonely night boat
Stars hang-down level plain vastness
Moon bobs-from great-river’s flow
Name how literature famous
Office due-to age-sickness resigned
Drifting-drifting what-am like
Sky-earth one sand-gull
Translated by David Hawkes (literal character-by-character version, 1965)
Thoughts Written While Travelling at Night
By the bank where the fine grass bends in a gentle wind, my boat’s tall mast
stands in the solitary night. The stars hang down over the great emptiness of
the level plain, and the moon bobs on the running waters of the Great River.
Literature will bring me no fame. A career is denied me by my age and sickness.
What do I most resemble in my aimless wanderings? A seagull drifting between
earth and sky!
Translated by David Hawkes (prose version, 1965)
Thoughts on a Night Journey
Reeds by the bank bending, stirred by the breeze,
High-masted boat advancing alone in the night,
Stars drawn low by the vastness of the plain,
The moon rushing forward in the river’s flow.
How should I look for fame to what I have written?
In age and sickness, how continue to serve?
Wandering, drifting, what can I take for likeness?
— A gull that wheels alone between earth and sky.
Translated by Cyril Birch (1965)
A Traveler at Night Writes His Thoughts
Delicate grasses, faint wind on the bank;
stark mast, a lone night boat:
stars hang down, over broad fields sweeping;
the moon boils up, on the great river flowing.
Fame — how can my writings win me that?
Office — age and sickness have brought it to an end.
Fluttering, fluttering — where is my likeness?
Sky and earth and one sandy gull.
Translated by Burton Watson (1971)
Night Thoughts Afloat
By bent grasses
in a gentle wind
Under straight mast
I’m alone tonight,
And the stars hang
above the broad plain
But moon’s afloat
in this Great River:
Oh, where’s my name
among the poets?
Official rank?
“Retired for ill-health.”
Drifting, drifting,
what am I more than
A single gull
between sky and earth?
Translated by Arthur Cooper (1973)
Thoughts While Travelling at Night
A faint wind
through the fine grasses
on the shore;
High mast
and lonely boat
in the night.
The stars reach down to the wide level fields,
The moon rushes on
in the swing of the Great River.
Shall I ever make a name in poetry?
Old and sick,
it is time for me to retire.
Driven this way and that like —
what shall I say?
Like a solitary gull
blown between earth and sky!
Translated by Innes Herdan (1973)
Night Thoughts
Tufts of grass on the bank
Stirred by the breeze.
A lone boat,
A tall mast in the night.
Stars hanging low
Over wild land and tilled field.
Moonlight shimmering
On the swift-flowing Great River.
How can I win fame
By the work of my pen?
Worn out in public service,
I am wiser to resign.
Tossed about
In the whirlwinds of life,
What am I?
A seagull hovering
’Twixt heaven and earth!
Translated by Henry H. Hart (1974)
Night Thoughts Aboard a Boat
A bank of fine grass and light breeze,
A tall-masted solitary night boat.
Stars descend over the vast wild plain;
The moon bobs in the Great River’s flow.
Fame: is it ever to be won in literature?
Office: I should give up, old and sick.
Floating, floating, what am I like?
Between earth and sky, a gull alone.
Translated by James J.Y. Liu & Irving Y. Lo (1975)
Thoughts of a Night on Board
Slender grasses, a light breeze on the banks.
Tall mast, a solitary night on board.
A falling star, and the vast plain broader.
Surging moon, on the Great River flows.
Can fame grow from the written word alone?
The official, old and sick, must let it be.
Afloat, afloat, just so . . .
Heaven, and Earth, and one black gull.
Translated by Jerome P. Seaton (1982)
Thoughts While Traveling by Night
Slender grass, light breeze on the banks.
Tall mast, a solitary night on board.
A star falls, and the vast plain seems broader.
Surging moon, on the Great River flows.
Can fame grow from wen alone?
This servant of the people, now old and sick, must let that be.
Afloat, afloat, just so . . .
Heaven, and Earth, and one black gull.
Translated by Jerome P. Seaton (2006)
Thoughts, Traveling at Night
In delicate beach-grass, a slight breeze.
The boat’s mast teetering up into solitary
Night, plains open away beneath foundering stars.
A moon emerges and, the river vast, flows.
How will poems bring honor? My career
Lost to age and sickness, buffeted, adrift
On the wind — is there anything like it? All
Heaven and earth, and one lone sand-gull.
Translated by David Hinton (1988)
Expressing My Feelings, on a Night of Travel
A fine grassy, light breezy bank;
A tall masted, lonesome night boat.
The stars droop, as flat wilds widen;
The moon bobs, in great Jiang’s flow.
Renown — by literature made known?
Office — old and sick, I should annul . . .
Tossing adrift — what is my likeness?
Heaven and earth — a single sand gull.
Translated by David R. McCraw (1992)
Thoughts While Travelling at Night
Light breeze on the fine grass.
I stand alone at the mast.
Stars lean on the vast wild plain.
Moon bobs in the Great River’s spate.
Letters have brought no fame.
Office? Too old to obtain.
Drifting, what am I like?
A gull between earth and sky.
Translated by Vikram Seth (1993)
Night Thoughts While Traveling
Thin grass bends on the breezy shore,
and the tall mast seems lonely in my boat.
Stars ride low across the wide plain,
and the moon is tossed by the Yangtze.
What is fame and literary status —
the old and infirm should leave office.
Adrift, drifting: what is left for the lone gull
adrift between earth and heaven.
Translated by Sam Hamill (2000)
Nocturnal Reflections While Traveling
Gently grass soft wind shore
Tall mast alone night boat
Stars fall flat fields broad
Moon rises great river flows
Name not literary works mark
Official should old sick stop
Flutter flutter what place seem
Heaven earth one sand gull
Translated by Mark Alexander (literal
character-by-character version, 2001)
Nocturnal Reflections While Traveling
Gentle breeze on grass by the shore,
The boat's tall mast alone at night.
Stars fall; broad flat fields,
Moon rises; great river flows.
Have my writings not made any mark?
An official should stop when old and sick.
Fluttering from place to place I resemble,
A gull between heaven and earth.
Translated by Mark Alexander (2001)
Remembering Ken’s Tu Fu*
Adrift
in marshes
my mast poles into
the starry field
as the moon floats by
wondering about fame
changing ages
and I flutter
a kestrel
adrift
Translated by Dan Potter (2007)
* because I woke up remembering
reading many versions of the famous poem
on your site . . .
Twenty-three translations of Tu Fu’s poem “Thoughts While Traveling at
Night” (ca. 767 AD).
Copyright notice.
[Passages from other recommended works]
[Gateway to the Vast
Realms]
[Rexroth essay on Tu Fu]
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