I am only an old woodsman, whispering a sob,
As I steal like a spring-shadow down the Winding River.
...Since the palaces ashore are sealed by a thousand gates --
Fine willows, new rushes, for whom are you so green?
...I remember a cloud of flags that came from the South Garden,
And ten thousand colours, heightening one another,
And the Kingdom's first Lady, from the Palace of the Bright Sun,
Attendant on the Emperor in his royal chariot,
And the horsemen before them, each with bow and arrows,
And the snowy horses, champing at bits of yellow gold,
And an archer, breast skyward, shooting through the clouds
And felling with one dart a pair of flying birds.
...Where are those perfect eyes, where are those pearly teeth?
A blood-stained spirit has no home, has nowhere to return.
And clear Wei waters running east, through the cleft on Dagger- Tower Trail,
Carry neither there nor here any news of her.
People, compassionate, are wishing with tears
That she were as eternal as the river and the flowers.
...Mounted Tartars, in the yellow twilight, cloud the town with dust.
I am fleeing south, but I linger-gazing northward toward the throne.
Original Poem:
「哀江头」
杜甫
少陵野老吞生哭， 春日潜行曲江曲。
江头宫殿锁千门， 细柳新蒲为谁绿。
忆昔霓旌下南苑， 苑中景物生颜色。
昭阳殿里第一人， 同辇随君侍君侧。
辇前才人带弓箭， 白马嚼啮黄金勒。
翻身向天仰射云， 一箭正坠双飞翼。
明眸皓齿今何在， 血污游魂归不得。
清渭东流剑阁深， 去住彼此无消息。
人生有情泪沾臆， 江水江花岂终极。
黄昏胡骑尘满城， 欲往城南望城北。
Interpretation:
In the fall of 756 A.D., Du Fu left Shanshu to join Emperor Suzong of the Tang Dynasty, who was located in Lingwu, but he was captured by An Lushan's rebels and brought to Chang'an, which had already fallen. In the spring of 757 A.D., he secretly came to the original palace of Emperor Tang Xuanzong by the Qujiang River, and wrote this poem with grief and indignation.
The poem is divided into three sections. The first paragraph is about the desolate scene of Qujiang River after the fall of Chang'an. The wild old man who lived in Shaoling cried silently and secretly came to the Qujiang River in spring. The palaces on the riverbank are closed and locked, and for whom are the thin willows and the newborn water bushes green?
This was originally a bustling tourist attraction, but now the palace doors are locked, cold and quiet. For whom are the slender willows and new bushes green? Only shaoling wild old man quietly come here, see things sad.
The second paragraph, recalling the Anshi Rebellion before the Qujiang spring prosperity. Recall that when the emperor's colorful banners and ceremonies came down to the South Garden, everything in the garden was full of light. The first beauty in Zhaoyang Palace also traveled with the car, serving beside the emperor. In front of the car, the female officers of the palace were armed with bows and arrows, and the white horses were harnessed with golden bridles with chews. Turning toward the clouds in the sky and shooting, a pair of birds flying in double flight between a smile fell to the ground.
At that time, Tang Xuanzong and palace concubines were lucky to tour Hibiscus Garden, colorful flags fluttering, everything is bright. Yang Guifei accompanied the car, the female officials in military uniform across the horse, back to shoot high in the air, hitting the birds flying together. This skillful technique won the Yang Guifei charm “a smile”! This paragraph writes Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei tour of indulgence, luxury, for their later tragedy laid the groundwork.
The third paragraph, write Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei tragedy and the poet's feelings. Where are Yang Guifei's bright eyes and white teeth? Blood stained her wandering soul, never to return! The clear waters of the Wei River flowed eastward, and the Jiange, where Emperor Xuanzong was, was so far away. Those who go and those who stay have no news of each other. Life is sentimental, tears stained chest, the flow of the river and the opening of the river flowers where will there be an end? At dusk, the Hu riders raised the dust of the city, ready to the south of the city but ran to the north of the city.
Here implies two layers of meaning, one is to write the poet's inner grief, not forgetting the court; one is to write the poet looking north to the king's division, to recover the capital. Both meanings show the poet's loyalty to the king and love of the country.
The whole poem adopts the technique of comparison, contrasting the prosperity of the past with the desolation of today, and the joy of the past with the death of today. In the front of the reality of the ruling group represented by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Xuanzong, it implies the lingering hatred and profound lesson of the country's collapse and death of the family.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Du Fu (杜甫), 712 - 770 AD, was a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, known as the "Sage of Poetry". Born into a declining bureaucratic family, Du Fu had a rough life, and his turbulent and dislocated life made him keenly aware of the plight of the masses. Therefore, his poems were always closely related to the current affairs, reflecting the social life of that era in a more comprehensive way, with profound thoughts and a broad realm. In his poetic art, he was able to combine many styles, forming a unique style of "profound and thick", and becoming a great realist poet in the history of China.
