Autumn River Song
Li Bai · Tang
White hair three thousand feet long
Sorrow seems to make it grow
I do not know in the bright mirror
Where did autumn frost descend
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White hair three thousand feet long, sorrow seems to make it grow. I do not know in the bright mirror, where did autumn frost descend?
My white hair, three thousand feet it flows, lengthened it seems by sorrow's woes. Within the mirror's gleaming light, whence came this frost of autumn bright?
This is one of seventeen poems in Li Bai's 'Autumn River Songs' series, written during his wanderings. Li Bai, known for his bold romanticism and hyperbolic imagery, transforms the conventional topic of aging into something fantastical and humorous. The absurdist image of three-thousand-foot-long hair growing from sorrow creates both comedy and pathos. The poem reflects the Chinese tradition of using natural imagery (autumn frost) to discuss human aging, while Li Bai's characteristic exaggeration elevates personal sorrow to cosmic proportions. Despite its humor, the poem conveys genuine anxiety about aging and the mysterious passage of time that transforms us without our full awareness.
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