A Few More Tang Poems
Translated by TIEN TRAN
Updated 1/9/24
Warwick, RI
Table of Contents
- Farewell (Wang Wei)
- Late Spring Returning to a Thatch Cottage in the Old Hills (Qian Qi)
- Meeting an Entertainer (Qian Qi)
- Passing Through Luocheng (Qian Qi)
- Crossing the Border – Nos. 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 9 of 9 Poems (Du Fu)
- Old Fisherman (Liu Zongyuan)
- Bring in the Wine (Li Bai)
- A Song of Lake Meipi (Du Fu)
- To Wei Eight, Country Gentleman (Du Fu)
- Myriad Fathom Pool (Du Fu)
- Song of the Ancient Cypress (Du Fu)
送別
下馬飲君酒
問君何所之
君言不得意
歸臥南山陲
但去莫復聞
白雲無盡時
Farewell
I dismount, give you wine
Ask where you’re going
You say that you’re frustrated
Going back to lie low in south hills’ frontier
Go then – hear nothing more
White clouds, endless, are in season
Notes
A poem of luminous and deeply affecting simplicity. “You,” in the original, appears once in each of the first three lines. The third couplet turns to direct speech, to say only that the poet will say no more. In that non-protest, familiar yet decorous, there is a hint of reproach, as if to say, “What happens after this season of dramatic farewells?”
This poem, in Hans Bethge’s adaptation, is incorporated into “Der Abschied” of Mahler’s symphonic song cycle Das Lied von der Erde, where the one who is leaving voluminously vents his hopes and pains.
暮春歸故山草堂
谷口春殘黃鳥稀
辛夷花盡杏花飛
始憐幽竹山窗下
不改青陰待我歸
Late Spring Returning to a Thatch Cottage in the Old Hills
In the valley, spring wanes, orioles are few
Magnolia blossoms exhausted, apricot blossoms fly
Now I miss secluded bamboo under a mountain window
Constant dark shade that waits for me to go home
逢俠者
燕趙悲歌士
相逢劇孟家
寸心言不盡
前路日將斜
Meeting an Entertainer
Singer of Yan and Zhao’s mournful songs
I meet in Ju Meng’s house
Words cannot tell our deepest thoughts
On the road ahead the day grows late
過故洛城
故城門外春日斜
故城門裏無人家
市朝欲認不知處
漠漠野田空草花
Passing through Luocheng
Outside Luocheng’s gates, spring day slants
Inside Luocheng’s gates, no human habitation
To find market or palace, no one knows the spot
Nothing but grass blossoms on the wild fields
前出塞九首
其一
戚戚去故里
悠悠赴交河
公家有程期
亡命嬰禍羅
君已富土境
開邊一何多
棄絕父母恩
吞聲行負戈
2.14 [750]
Crossing the Border
No. 1
Fearfully I leave my home village
Going far, far away to Jiaohe
The army has strict deadlines
Dodgers wind up in disaster’s net
The king with fertile frontiers
Expands the border – how much is gained
Abandoning parents’ love
Keeping silent, I shoulder arms and go
其三
磨刀嗚咽水
水赤刃傷手
欲輕腸斷聲
心緒亂已久
丈夫誓許國
憤惋復何有
功名圖騏驎
戰骨當速朽
No. 3
I sharpen my sword – the river swallows its cries
Water bleeds – the blade cuts my hand
To bear the sound of sliced guts
My mind has long been in chaos
A grown man swears to his country
Then what reason for anger or regret
Heroes’ portraits hang in Unicorn Hall
While war bones hasten to rot
Notes
Sliced guts – chángduàn is a dead metaphor that means simply “heartbreak.” The phrase strikes me as grimly literal in this context.
其五
迢迢萬餘裏
領我赴三軍
軍中異苦樂
主將寧盡聞
隔河見胡騎
倏忽數百群
我始為奴僕
幾時樹功勛
No. 5
Faraway, beyond countless miles
They take me to join a huge army
In the army some suffer, others delight
Commanders can’t know about it all
Across the river, I see Hu riders
Suddenly a few hundred have gathered
For the first time I am a slave
When shall I plant my distinction
其六
挽弓當挽強
用箭當用長
射人先射馬
擒賊先擒王
殺人亦有限
列國自有疆
茍能製侵陵
豈在多殺傷
No. 6
Draw a bow, draw the strongest
Choose an arrow, choose the longest
Shoot a man, first shoot his horse
Capture the enemy, first capture their lord
The killing of people too has limits
Every country, its own borders
If we had power to check incursions
How could there be so much bloodshed
Notes
The voice of a would-be statesman interrupts the dramatic sequence here. The overt political theme is prepared in the previous poem, and is picked up again in the last.
其七
驅馬天雨雪
軍行入高山
徑危抱寒石
指落曾冰間
已去漢月遠
何時築城還
浮雲暮南征
可望不可攀
No. 7
We drive our horses into rain and snow
The troops enter high mountains
Precipitous roads cleave to cold rocks
Fingers break in layers of ice
Already we’re far from China’s moon
When will the Wall be built and we return
Rising clouds in the evening journey south
Clouds I can watch but cannot mount
其九
從軍十年餘
能無分寸功
眾人貴茍得
欲語羞雷同
中原有鬥爭
況在狄與戎
丈夫四方誌
安可辭固窮
No. 9
In the army for more than ten years
How am I without a share of honor
Others obtain rank by ill means
I’d speak out, but hate to sound like them
There’s fighting on the central plains
More where our enemies hold force
Fine men are full of lofty resolve
Can they avoid trials and tribulations
漁翁
漁翁夜傍西巖宿
曉汲清湘燃楚竹
煙銷日出不見人
欸乃一聲山水綠
迴看天際下中流
巖上無心雲相逐
Old Fisherman
Old fisherman overnights under west cliffs
At dawn dips from the cold Xiang, burns Chu cane
Mist vanishes, the sun rises – you see no one
Only an echo of oars – hills and waters green
Behind, watch the horizon descend mid-stream
Above cliffs, mind-less clouds chase clouds
將進酒
君不見
黃河之水天上來
奔流到海不復回
又不見
高堂明鏡悲白髮
朝如青絲暮成雪
人生得意須盡歡
莫使金樽空對月
天生我才必有用
千金散盡還復來
烹羊宰牛且為樂
會須一飲三百杯
岑夫子
丹丘生
將進酒
杯莫停
與君歌一曲
請君為我傾耳聽
鐘鼓饌玉何足貴
但願長醉不願醒
古來聖賢皆寂寞
唯有飲者留其名
陳王昔時宴平樂
斗酒十千恣歡謔
主人為何言少錢
逕須沽取對君酌
五花馬
千金裘
呼兒將出換美酒
與爾同消萬古愁
Bring in the Wine
Do you not see
Yellow River waters come from the sky
Run racing to the sea and never return
And do you not see
High halls’ bright mirrors mourn white hair
At dawn like black silk, in twilight become snow
Humans winning success must fully celebrate
Don’t let golden goblets brave moonlight empty
Heaven-made, my talent I think has use
A thousand golds may scatter but will turn up again
Boil a sheep, kill a cow, and make merry
Let’s drink as one three hundred cups
Master Cen
Mr. Danqiu
Bring in the wine
Your cups do not put down
And to entertain you I will sing a song
Please, gentlemen, for my sake, tilt your ears and listen
Bells and drums, delicacies and jade, how are they valuable
Pray only to be long drunk, don’t pray to be sober
Since ancient times sages have all silenced
Only drinkers survive their fame
Prince Chen of old held a feast at Ping-Le
Flagons of wine, ten thousands worth, freely they enjoyed
So why say the host that his funds are low
Quickly we must buy more to drink
Five-dapple horse
Thousand-gold fur
Tell the boy to go out and exchange for beautiful wine
That we’ll vanish together an ancient sorrow
渼陂行
岑參兄弟皆好奇
攜我遠來遊渼陂
天地黤慘忽異色
波濤萬頃堆琉璃
琉璃汗漫泛舟入
事殊興極憂思集
鼉作鯨吞不復知
惡風白浪何嗟及
主人錦帆相為開
舟子喜甚無氛埃
鳧鷖散亂櫂謳發
絲管啁啾空翠來
沈竿續縵深莫測
菱葉荷花淨如拭
宛在中流渤澥清
下歸無極終南黑
半陂已南純浸山
動影裊窕沖融間
船舷暝戛雲際寺
水面月出藍田關
此時驪龍亦吐珠
馮夷擊鼓群龍趨
湘妃漢女出歌舞
金支翠旗光有無
咫尺但愁雷雨至
蒼茫不曉神靈意
少壯幾時奈老何
向來哀樂何其多
A Song of Lake Meipi
Cen Shen and his brother both love marvels
Bring me from afar to tour Lake Meipi
The world, dark and gloomy, suddenly changes appearance
Surging waves countless acres fill with lapis lazuli
Onto teeming lapis lazuli our bobbing boat ventures
Through the strange experience, elation crests, misgivings increase
Though the gator’s lunge and the whale’s gulp no more are known
Ill winds, whitecaps may come regrettably quick
My host’s brocade sails for us are spread
The boatman exults that there is no haze or dust
Ducks and gulls chaotically scatter as a shanty rises
Strings and pipes’ ethereal sounds come through the turquoise air
Fathoming rods, measuring lines have never plumbed its depths
Water-chestnut leaves and lotus blossoms gleam as though cleansed
We’re mid-stream, looking round in Bohai’s clarity
Descending endlessly, come Zhongnan’s blackness
The lake’s southern half limpidly bathe the mountain
Inconstant reflections weave in the rippling flow
Boat flanks darkly knock againt Cloud’s Edge Temple
On the water’s surface the moon exits Blue Fields Pass
At this moment the Black Dragon spits out its pearl
Pingyi beats the drum and a host of dragons scurry
Xiang Consorts and Han Maidens come out singing and dancing
Golden poles, kingfisher banners shimmer unreal
A short distance more and I only worry that a thunderstorm arrives
Vastly incomprehensible is the will of a god
Youth’s strength endures a while, then how we age
And always, sorrows and joys, dense beyond account
Notes
Besides being a virtuosic display of imaginative description, this poem in the ballad mold captivates for its lightning-quick changes of mood - often within a few words - which finally relate to the density of life’s experiences.
Bohai or the Sea of Bo is in the northeast and known for its clarity; descending endlessly is of course the reflection of Mount Zhongnan on the water.
Cloud’s Edge Temple and Blue-Fields Pass are actual landmarks, reflected in the lake. The Black Dragon from Zhuangzi spitting out its pearl mythically recaps the moon rising out of Blue Fields Pass. But all hell breaks loose in the following line, when the supernatural finally irrupts. How cunningly the poem prepares for this moment, which caps off a series of fantastic descriptions, before we’re violently pulled back into the realm of the mundane again.
Pingyi was a river god, and Xiang Consorts and Han Maidens, nymphs of the rivers Xiang and Han.
贈衛八處士
人生不相見
動如參與商
今夕復何夕
共此燈燭光
少壯能幾時
鬢髮各已蒼
訪舊半為鬼
驚呼熱中腸
焉知二十載
重上君子堂
昔別君未婚
兒女忽成行
怡然敬父執
問我來何方
問答乃未已
兒女羅酒漿
夜雨翦春韭
新炊間黃粱
主稱會面難
一舉累十觴
十觴亦不醉
感子故意長
明日隔山岳
世事兩茫茫
To Wei Eight, Country Gentleman
Living we never meet
Ever like Shen and Shang
What night is this
Sharing lamp and candle glow
Youth’s strength manages a while
Our temples each has greyed
Inquired old friends half are ghosts
Startled cries burn our insides
How to know it’d be twenty years
Before I entered your hall again
Long ago parting, you were unmarried
Children suddenly have formed a row
Cheerfully they reverence their father’s friend
Ask me where I have come from
Questions and answers not finished
The children set out wine
In night rain spring chives are cut
Freshly cooked, mixed with yellow millet
My host says that to see each other is hard
As one ten cups are raised
Ten cups and I’m still not drunk
Moved that old feelings last
Tomorrow we’ll be mountains apart
Engulfed both in the world’s affairs
Notes
Shen and Shang (Orion and Scorpius) are brother constellations that appear at different seasons in the sky; in the northern hemisphere, Orion appears in the winter and Scorpius in the summer.
What night is this echoes the beginning of the Song of the Yue Boatman, said to have been recorded in the 6th cen. BCE and appearing in the Shuo Yuan of the Western Han (1st cen. BCE). The song has a homosexual context, expressing the love of the titular boatman for his princely guest, which is certainly suggestive to our modern sensibilities, but we best not read too much into it!
萬丈潭
青溪合冥寞
神物有顯晦
龍依積水蟠
窟壓萬丈內
跼步凌垠堮
側身下煙靄
前臨洪濤寬
卻立蒼石大
山危一徑盡
岸絕兩壁對
削成根虛無
倒影垂澹濧
黑知灣澴底
清見光炯碎
孤雲到來深
飛鳥不在外
高蘿成帷幄
寒木壘旌旆
遠川曲通流
嵌竇潛洩瀨
造幽無人境
發興自我輩
告歸遺恨多
將老斯遊最
閉藏修鱗蟄
出入巨石礙
何當炎天過
快意風雨會
Myriad Fathom Pool
Blue creek joining dark silence
A divine creature displays and hides
The dragon rests, in ample waters coiled
Its lair under countless fathoms pressed
Constrained steps mount the steep edge
Bent bodies descend into foggy mist
Coming out I see a heaving expanse
Stand again on green rocky heights
Hills lurch, the single path ends
The bank breaks off, twin walls oppose
Filigreed, rooted in unreality
Inverted shadows hang over the flux
Black I know is vortices’ bottom
In the clear I see brilliant shards
A lone cloud arrives in the deep
Flying birds are all within
High vines form a general’s tent
Cold trees amass banners
Far streams in this bend converge
Sources unseen seep and gush
Created remote is no man’s place
The exhilaration, born of ourselves
Saying goodbye, I have many regrets
Near to old age, this tour is the best
Sealed away long scales hibernate
Entrance and exit by boulders blocked
How may I return in blazing weather
When it exults meeting wind and rain
古柏行
孔明廟前有老柏
柯如青銅根如石
霜皮溜雨四十圍
黛色參天二千尺
君臣已與時際會
樹木猶為人愛惜
雲來氣接巫峽長
月出寒通雪山白
憶昨路繞錦亭東
先主武侯同閟宮
崔嵬枝幹郊原古
窈窕丹青戶牖空
落落盤踞雖得地
冥冥孤高多烈風
扶持自是神明力
正直元因造化功
大廈如傾要梁棟
萬牛迴首丘山重
不露文章世已驚
未辭剪伐誰能送
苦心豈免容螻蟻
香葉終經宿鸞鳳
志士幽人莫怨嗟
古來材大難為用
Song of the Ancient Cypress
Before Kongming’s shrine there’s an old cypress
Branches like green bronze, roots like stone
Hoary bark channels rain forty spans around
Kohl black grazes heaven two thousand feet above
King and Minister their destiny have met
But this tree people still lovingly cherish
When clouds come, aura fills Wu Gorge’s length
In moonrise, coldness reaches snowy mountains’ white
I remember on a recent road winding east of Brocade Pavilion
The First Ruler and Warrior Count shared the same complex
Towering boughs over the ancient outlying plain
Obscured vermillion and blue in openings empty
Though its spread and tenacity command the spot
Tall and alone in darkness it battles night gales
Supported naturally by divine power
Its straightness is due to the work of creation
Suppose a great hall fell and beams are needed
Numerous oxen would turn to eye the mountainous weight
Unrevealed be its figures, the world is already astonished
Not that it refuses the axe, but who can carry it away
Its suffering heart little denies shelter to ants
Fragrant leaves habitually accommodate phoenixes
Venturers and recluses need not give a sigh
It’s always been that great timber strains being used
Notes
Kongming refers to Zhuge Liang, military genius and advisor to the state of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period. King and Minister refers to the King of Shu and the same; as does First Ruler and Warrior Count. Zhuge Liang enjoyed the complete confidence of his king, but died before he was able to secure a lasting future for the Shu kingdom.
When clouds come... / In moonrise... - The sense here is that the aura (or “vapors”) of a storm envelopes the tree and fills the length of Wu gorge, and in moonlight the tree appears cold against snow-capped peaks in the distance. The lines, however, seem to have the causation reversed, saying that it’s the tree’s aura that fills Wu Gorge, its cold that reaches the mountains. This is not an uncommon device in Tang poetry. David Hawkes notes that snow-capped mountains are far to the northwest and would very unlikely to have been visible from Kuizhou.
Shared the same complex - were worshipped in the same temple complex that is. Vermillion and blue refers to paintings in the temple, glimpsed obscurely through cypress boughs. This couplet, along with the one previous, recounts a different site, with different cypresses. The ancient cypress of the title, in Kuizhou, was supposed to have been planted by Zhuge Liang himself. It grows into cosmic proportions through the first eight lines of the poem and is superimposed onto the memory of another temple to Zhuge Liang that the poet had encountered a few months before outside Chengdu.
Figures indicates wood figures or patterns of wood-grain; the same word also means “writings” or “literature.” In the same vein, timber also means “ability” or “talent.” Du Fu revered Zhuge Liang as a tragic hero.
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