Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ON BEING SIXTY, by PO CHU-YI


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ON BEING SIXTY, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Between thirty and forty, one is distracted by the five lusts
Last Line: "not to complain of three-score, ""the time of obedient ears."
Alternate Author Name(s): Bai Juyi; Bo Juyi; Po Chu-i; Lo T'ien; Jyu-yi
Subject(s): Aging; China - Tang Dynasty (618-905)


BETWEEN thirty and forty, one is distracted by the Five Lusts;
Between seventy and eighty, one is a prey to a hundred diseases.
But from fifty to sixty one is free from all ills;
Calm and still -- the heart enjoys rest.
I have put behind me Love and Greed; I have done with Profit and Fame;
I am still short of illness and decay and far from decrepit age.
Strength of limb I still possess to seek the rivers and hills;
Still my heart has spirit enough to listen to flutes and strings.
At leisure I open new wine and taste several cups;
Drunken I recall old poems and sing a whole volume.
Meng-te has asked for a poem and herewith I exhort him
Not to complain of three-score, "the time of obedient ears."





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