危楼高百尺
The lofty tower rises a hundred feet;
手可摘星辰
My hand could pluck the stars.
不敢高声语
I dare not speak aloud,
恐惊天上人
For fear of waking the people in heaven.
What the poem means
The mountain temple tower feels so high that the poet imagines picking stars. He speaks softly for fear of disturbing people in heaven. This is playful exaggeration, not a literal measurement.
Meet the poet
Li Bai was a Tang poet known for vivid imagination and poems about nature, friendship and longing.
Li Bai · More poems →