Du Fu wrote this poem in 736 at the age of twenty-four when he travelled in modern Shandong Province. The first couplet tells us his general impression of the Peak of Peaks viewed from afar: it was one boundless green overspreading the ancient States of Qi in the north and Lu in the south. When he came nearer, he found the mountain a marvel done by Nature, so vast that its southern side was always sunlit and its northern side ever in shade.

The longer the poet gazed at the mountain, the more he felt his soul cleansed by the layers of clouds rising there from until he could mark with wide eyes the birds flying back to their nest at dusk. This tells us how long he had been gazing and marveling. But he did not commune and become one with Nature as Li Bo before Jingling Mountain. The last couplet tells us the poet’s wish to ascend to the summit of Mount Tai, which seems to predict that one day he would surmount the Olympian summit, Chinese regulated poetry.

GAZING AT MOUNT TaI
O Peak of Peaks, how high it stands!
One boundless green o’er spreads two States.
A marvel done by Nature’s hands,
O’er light and shade it dominates.
Clouds rise there from and lave my breast;
I strain my eyes and see birds fleet.
I must ascend the mountain’s crest;
It dwarfs all peaks under my feet.

望岳

岱宗夫如何？齐鲁青未了。

造化钟神秀，阴阳割昏晓。

荡胸生层云，绝眦入归鸟。

会当凌绝顶，一览众山小。

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