Looking at the Moon After Rain

Chinese poet Li Po was born at the start of the eighth century. His poem, Looking at the Moon After Rain, expresses universal truths about the beauty of the natural world, regardless of the place and time one lives in. The start of the third line, "open the door," reads as an invitation to truly look at, and appreciate, all that the world offers.

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Looking at the Moon After Rain

by Li Po

The heavy clouds are broken and blowing,

And once more I can see the wide common stretching beyond the four sides of the city.

Open the door. Half of the moon-toad is already up,

The glimmer of it is like smooth hoar-frost spreading over ten thousand li.

The river is a flat, shining chain.

The moon, rising, is a white eye to the hills;

After it has risen, it is the bright heart of the sea.

Because I love it -- so -- round as a fan,

I hum songs until the dawn.