Po-Chui

I enjoy reading his poems. His poems are very easy to read. It is straight forward and not too analytical. His poem shows mostly autobiography of his everyday life. As compared to other Chinese poet, Po Chu I is more concerned with his family. An example of his concern for his family is in the Golden Bell and Watching the Reapers poem. Instead of relating it to his occupation, which is being an official whose work is based on government rules and regulations, his poetry is more easygoing. He focuses more on his personal life and his carefree nature. My favorite poem by his is the Pruning Trees.

Trees growing--right in front of my window;
The trees are high and the leaves grow thick.
Sad alsa! the distant mountain view,
Obscured by this, dimly shows between.
One morning I took knife and axe;
With my own hand I lopped the branches off.
Ten thousand leaves fell about my head;
A thousand hills came before my eyes.
Suddenly, as when clouds or mists break
And straight through, the blue sky appears.
Again, like the face of a friend one has loved
Seen at last after an age of parting
First there came a gentle wind blowing;
One by one the birds flew back to the tree.
To ease my mind I gazed to the South-East;
As my eyes wandered, my thoughts went far away.
Of men there is none that has not some preference;
Of things there is none but mixes good with ill.
It was not that I did not love the tender branches;
But better still--to see the green hills!

I like this poem by him because he writes about simple things in nature. During the first part of the Pruning Tree, the only problem here is that the tree with thick leaves is covering his views of the mountain. So he decides to cut off the branches and leaves in order to have a better view of nature from house. With the branches clear off of his view, he can see many scenes from his window.