For Meng Hao-Jan

I love Master Meng.

Free as a flowing breeze,

He is famous

Throughout the world.

In rosy youth, he cast away

Official cap and carriage.

Now, a white-haired elder, he reclines

Amid pines and cloud.

Drunk beneath the moon,

He often attains sagehood.

Lost among the flowers,

He serves no lord.

How can I aspire

to such a high mountain?

Here below, to his clear fragrance,

I bow.

Translated by Greg Whincup