Poem Explorer

Curated reading path

Public-domain poetry across Asia

This path is geographic rather than stylistic. It brings together distinct languages, histories, forms, and translation traditions that should not be treated as one school.

Each poem retains its source-edition and translation information. Use the map and poet pages to move from a broad view toward the context of an individual voice.

112 matching poems6 poets112 selected starting points

Poems in this path

  1. A cloud of flowersMatsuo Basho · 3 lines
  2. An ancient pondMatsuo Basho · 3 lines
  3. Ch’ang-KanLi Po · 41 lines
  4. Drinking SongLi Po · 30 lines
  5. FightingLi Po · 22 lines
  6. Gitanjali 02: When thou commandest me to sing it seems that Rabindranath Tagore · 11 lines
  7. Gitanjali 03: I know not how thou singest, my master! I everRabindranath Tagore · 9 lines
  8. Gitanjali 04: Life of my life, I shall ever try to keep my bRabindranath Tagore · 10 lines
  9. Gitanjali 05: I ask for a moment’s indulgence to sit by thy Rabindranath Tagore · 9 lines
  10. Gitanjali 06: Pluck this little flower and take it, delay noRabindranath Tagore · 7 lines
  11. Gitanjali 07: My song has put off her adornments. She has noRabindranath Tagore · 6 lines
  12. Gitanjali 08: The child who is decked with prince’s robes anRabindranath Tagore · 8 lines
  13. Gitanjali 09: O Fool, try to carry thyself upon thy own shouRabindranath Tagore · 7 lines
  14. KU FĒNG, No. 6Li Po · 16 lines
  15. Ode IHafiz · 23 lines
  16. Ode IIHafiz · 26 lines
  17. Ode VHafiz · 20 lines
  18. Ode VIHafiz · 52 lines
  19. Ode XIIHafiz · 18 lines
  20. Ode XIVHafiz · 16 lines
  21. Ode XVIHafiz · 26 lines
  22. Ode XVIIHafiz · 18 lines
  23. On a withered branchMatsuo Basho · 3 lines
  24. On the Banks of Jo-YehLi Po · 16 lines
  25. Rumi 01: “The song of the spheres in their revolutionsJalal al-Din Rumi · 8 lines
  26. Rumi 02: “Men incur the reproach of wine and drugsJalal al-Din Rumi · 4 lines
  27. Rumi 03: “Angel and brute man’s wondrous leaven compose;Jalal al-Din Rumi · 3 lines
  28. Rumi 04: “Do you know a name without a thing answering toJalal al-Din Rumi · 10 lines
  29. Rumi 05: “The man of God is made wise by the Truth,Jalal al-Din Rumi · 4 lines
  30. Rumi 06: “I have put duality away, I have seen that the tJalal al-Din Rumi · 5 lines
  31. Rumi 07: “Not-being and defect, wherever seen,Jalal al-Din Rumi · 6 lines
  32. Rumi 08: “Fools buy false coins because they are like theJalal al-Din Rumi · 13 lines
  33. The cry of the cicadaMatsuo Basho · 3 lines
  34. The Distant PartingLi Po · 31 lines
  35. The SunLi Po · 27 lines
  36. The Szechwan RoadLi Po · 47 lines
  37. 만월대회고Hwang Jini · 8 lines
  38. 박연Hwang Jini · 8 lines
  39. 상사몽Hwang Jini · 4 lines
  40. 송도Hwang Jini · 4 lines
  41. 영반월Hwang Jini · 4 lines
  42. A Dream of T’ien-Mu MountainLi Po · 24 lines
  43. At Chiang-Hsia, Parting from Sung Chih-T’iLi Po · 8 lines
  44. Gitanjali 10: Here is thy footstool and there rest thy feet Rabindranath Tagore · 8 lines
  45. Gitanjali 11: Leave this chanting and singing and telling ofRabindranath Tagore · 13 lines
  46. Gitanjali 12: The time that my journey takes is long and theRabindranath Tagore · 14 lines
  47. Gitanjali 13: The song that I came to sing remains unsung toRabindranath Tagore · 10 lines
  48. Gitanjali 14: My desires are many and my cry is pitiful, butRabindranath Tagore · 11 lines
  49. Gitanjali 15: I am here to sing thee songs. In this hall of Rabindranath Tagore · 8 lines
  50. Gitanjali 16: I have had my invitation to this world’s festiRabindranath Tagore · 6 lines
  51. Gitanjali 17: I am only waiting for love to give myself up aRabindranath Tagore · 10 lines
  52. Gitanjali 18: Clouds heap upon clouds and it darkens. Ah, loRabindranath Tagore · 8 lines
  53. Gitanjali 19: If thou speakest not I will fill my heart withRabindranath Tagore · 8 lines
  54. Gitanjali 20: On the day when the lotus bloomed, alas, my miRabindranath Tagore · 9 lines
  55. Gitanjali 21: I must launch out my boat. The languid hours pRabindranath Tagore · 9 lines
  56. Gitanjali 22: In the deep shadows of the rainy July, with seRabindranath Tagore · 9 lines
  57. Gitanjali 23: Art thou abroad on this stormy night on thy joRabindranath Tagore · 8 lines
  58. Gitanjali 24: If the day is done, if birds sing no more, if Rabindranath Tagore · 8 lines
  59. Gitanjali 25: In the night of weariness let me give myself uRabindranath Tagore · 6 lines
  60. Gitanjali 26: He came and sat by my side but I woke not. WhaRabindranath Tagore · 6 lines
  61. Gitanjali 27: Light, oh where is the light? Kindle it with tRabindranath Tagore · 15 lines
  62. Gitanjali 28: Obstinate are the trammels, but my heart achesRabindranath Tagore · 11 lines
  63. Gitanjali 29: He whom I enclose with my name is weeping in tRabindranath Tagore · 6 lines
  64. Going Down Chung-Nan Mountain and Spending the Night DrinkingLi Po · 16 lines
  65. Ode CIHafiz · 20 lines
  66. Ode CLIXHafiz · 20 lines
  67. Ode CLVHafiz · 18 lines
  68. Ode CLVIIHafiz · 26 lines
  69. Ode CLXVIHafiz · 18 lines
  70. Ode CLXXIIIHafiz · 16 lines
  71. Ode CLXXXHafiz · 156 lines
  72. Ode CXLIXHafiz · 4 lines
  73. Ode CXLVHafiz · 22 lines
  74. Ode CXLVIHafiz · 17 lines
  75. Ode CXVHafiz · 32 lines
  76. Ode CXXIXHafiz · 18 lines
  77. Ode CXXXIVHafiz · 18 lines
  78. Ode CXXXVHafiz · 16 lines
  79. Ode LIXHafiz · 26 lines
  80. Ode LXIIIHafiz · 16 lines
  81. Ode LXIXHafiz · 29 lines
  82. Ode LXXIHafiz · 29 lines
  83. Ode LXXVIIHafiz · 12 lines
  84. Ode LXXXVIHafiz · 6 lines
  85. Ode LXXXVIIHafiz · 16 lines
  86. Ode LXXXVIIIHafiz · 8 lines
  87. Ode XIXHafiz · 37 lines
  88. Ode XLIIHafiz · 4 lines
  89. Ode XLIIIHafiz · 20 lines
  90. Ode XLVHafiz · 12 lines
  91. Ode XXHafiz · 28 lines
  92. Ode XXIIHafiz · 24 lines
  93. Ode XXIIIHafiz · 20 lines
  94. Ode XXIXHafiz · 47 lines
  95. Ode XXVHafiz · 23 lines
  96. Ode XXXIHafiz · 22 lines
  97. Ode XXXVHafiz · 16 lines
  98. Parting with Friends at a Wineshop in NankingLi Po · 7 lines
  99. River SongLi Po · 32 lines
  100. Rumi 09: “He comes, a moon whose like the sky ne’er saw, Jalal al-Din Rumi · 8 lines
  101. Rumi 10: “Whether it be of this world or of that,Jalal al-Din Rumi · 2 lines
  102. Rumi 11: “How long wilt thou cry, ‘O Allah’? Be quiet, foJalal al-Din Rumi · 12 lines
  103. Rumi 12: “This is Love: to fly heavenward,Jalal al-Din Rumi · 6 lines
  104. Rumi 13: “The motion of every atom is towards its origin;Jalal al-Din Rumi · 4 lines
  105. Rumi 14: “O my soul, I searched from end to end: I saw inJalal al-Din Rumi · 3 lines
  106. Rumi 15: “Every moment the robber Beauty rises in a diffeJalal al-Din Rumi · 31 lines
  107. Rumi 16: “Lo, for I to myself am unknown, now in God’s naJalal al-Din Rumi · 14 lines
  108. Rumi 17: “If there be any lover in the world, O Moslems, Jalal al-Din Rumi · 18 lines
  109. Rumi 18: “I died as mineral and became a plant,Jalal al-Din Rumi · 11 lines
  110. Sent to the Commissary Yüan of Ch’iao City, in Memory OfLi Po · 73 lines
  111. The Clear Cold SpringLi Po · 7 lines
  112. The White River at Nan-YangLi Po · 9 lines