211“Bright trout poised in the current”
Things Whole and Holy for Kenneth Rexroth
u Fu has been without question the major
influence on my own poetry... In some ways he is a better poet than either
Shakespeare or Homer. At least he is more natural and intimate.” So says Ken-
neth Rexroth (1905–1982) about the eighth-century T’ang Dynasty poet whose
life ’s work blended nature, transience, and war. Here is Rexroth voicing Tu
Fu, “Brimming Water.”
Under my feet the moon
Glides along the river.
Near midnight, a gusty lantern
Shines in the heart of night.
Along the sandbars flocks
Of white egrets roost,
Each one clenched like a fist.
In the wake of my barge
The fish leap, cut the water,
And dive and splash.Natural in the shape and gist of each sentence, intimate but not self-absorbed,
the poem lays out four things: moon, lantern, egrets, fish. Tu Fu’s and his
translator’s touch liven them: the moon “glides,” the lantern’s “gusty,” egrets
are “clenched,” fish “cut the water.” Drama, but no moralizing. “No ideas but
“
T