On A Prospect Of T'ai-shan

How is one to describe this king of mountains? Throught the whole of Ch'i and

Lu one never loses sight of its greenness. In it the Creator has concentrated

all that is numinous and beautiful. Its northern and southern slopes divide the

dawn from the dark. The layered clouds begin at the climber's heaving chest,

and homing birds fly suddenly within range of his straining eyes. One day I

must stand on top of its highest peak and at a single glance see all the other

mountains grown tiny beneath me.

                Tu Fu (tr. Hawkes)