The pagoda, rising abruptly from earth,
Reaches to the very Palace of Heaven….
Climbing, we seem to have left the world behind us,
With the steps we look down on hung from space.
It overtops a holy land
And can only have been built by toil of the spirit.
Its four sides darken the bright sun,
Its seven stories cut the grey clouds;
Birds fly down beyond our sight,
And the rapid wind below our hearing;
Mountain-ranges, toward the east,
Appear to be curving and flowing like rivers;
Far green locust-trees line broad roads
Toward clustered palaces and mansions;
Colours of autumn, out of the west,
Enter advancing through the city;
And northward there lie, in five graveyards,
Calm forever under dewy green grass,
Those who know life's final meaning
Which all humankind must learn.
…Henceforth I put my official hat aside.
To find the Eternal Way is the only happiness.
Original Poem:
「与高适薛据登慈恩寺浮图」
岑参
塔势如涌出， 孤高耸天宫。
登临出世界， 磴道盘虚空。
突兀压神州， 峥嵘如鬼工。
四角碍白日， 七层摩苍穹。
下窥指高鸟， 俯听闻惊风。
连山若波涛， 奔凑如朝东。
青槐夹驰道， 宫馆何玲珑。
秋色从西来， 苍然满关中。
五陵北原上， 万古青蒙蒙。
净理了可悟， 胜因夙所宗。
誓将挂冠去， 觉道资无穷。
Interpretation:
In 751 A.D., Cen Shen returned to Chang’an from his first trip to the Western Frontier, and this poem is a famous piece of landscape writing written during his stay in Chang’an when he traveled to Ci’en Temple Pagoda with the poets Du Fu, Gao Shi, Xue Zi, and Chu Guangxi.
After climbing the tower, even the birds flying very high are under the feet of the people, and the wind and clouds changing in the sky can only be seen by leaning down. The tower’s height is probably comparable to the legendary Babylonian “Tower of Heaven”. At the top of the tower to the southeast, west, north and west of the scenery, panoramic view of Chang’an, a panoramic view. On the ground seems to be tall and lofty palace and halls at this time have become like building blocks, small and delicate, which is the use of contrasting techniques to emphasize the tower’s high and steep.
This poem about the pagoda fully demonstrates the curious side of Cen Shen’s poetry. This curious poetic style is in perfect harmony with the mysteriousness of the pagoda, and it really achieves the poetic realm of blending of scenes and harmonizing of inner emotions and outer representations. The poem is ingenious in describing the towering tower of Ci’en Temple.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Cen Shen(岑参), 715-770 AD, was a native of Jingzhou, Hubei Province. He studied at Mt. Songshan when he was young, and later traveled to Beijing, Luoyang and Shuohe. Cen Shen was famous for his border poems, in which he wrote about the border scenery and the life of generals in a majestic and unrestrained manner, and together with Gao Shi, he was an outstanding representative of the border poetry school of the Sheng Tang Dynasty.
