The high tower on the city wall abuts on to a great wilderness –
So vast and vague, as I reflect with sadness on sea and sky.
A fierce wind brings turbulence to lotus-laden waters
And a fine and slanting rain falls hard on fig-covered walls.
For hundreds of miles the view is obscured by wooded mountain ranges
And the course of the river twists and turns like entrails in folds.
All of us have come to Yue with its dozens of tattooed tribes
As if to a region quite blocked off from outside letters and news.