Having to travel back now from this far place,
I dismount beside your lonely tomb.
The ground where i stand is wet with my tears;
The sky is dark with broken clouds...
I who played chess with the great premier
Am bringing to my lord the dagger he desired.
But i find only petals falling down,
I hear only linnets answering.
Original Poem:
「别房太尉墓」
杜甫
他乡复行役， 驻马别孤坟。
近泪无乾土， 低空有断云。
对棋陪谢傅， 把剑觅徐君。
唯见林花落， 莺啼送客闻。
Interpretation:
This is a memorial poem written by Du Fu in front of Fang Guan’s tomb, which was made when Du Fu visited Fang Guan’s tomb before he left Langzhou.
In the first line, he writes that he had been living in poverty, wandering around, and traveling again and again, and now, when he is about to return to Chengdu, he comes to say goodbye to his old friend’s lonely grave. Fang Goon was a close friend of Du Fu’s, and had recommended Du Fu for an official position. Later, Du Fu wrote a letter to Fang Guan to save him from being deported, which became the key to his life’s advancement and retreat. Therefore, the friendship between the two of them was very deep. These two lines show Dufu’s special mood when he had to come to say goodbye.
The enjambment describes Du Fu’s grief in front of the tomb. The poet had been friends with Fang Goon, and had been deported for offending Emperor Tang Suzong in order to save the poet from Fang Goon. Thinking of the deceased’s rough encounter with himself during his lifetime, he was doubly saddened, and his tears soaked the dry soil around him. His own grief seemed to have moved the heavens, and the sky was low and the clouds were broken, mourning together.
Then he writes about the poet’s life-and-death friendship with Fang Guan, which will never be forgotten. The poet used Xie An to compare the calmness of Fang Mao in his crusade against the bandits. Although he lost the battle, his calmness and elegance were consistent with Xie An’s. This is because Fang Guan was a political figure. This is because Fang Guan was a political figure, and the poet suffered because of him, so his praise and mourning were euphemistically expressed.
Fang Guan’s grave is cold and lonely. The poet stood beside the tomb, only to see the forest flowers falling, such as tears; sound warbler cries, such as the mournful sound, the lonely graveyard plus a lonely hangers-on, this is how miserable and sad scene. The poet’s deep love and deep grief for his deceased friend is revealed!
This poem is full of sorrow and affection. In the implicit and deep verse will be two people before and after the death of the friendship, one by one to pour out. This can also see the high character of the poet. Especially in the conclusion of the poem, the more you move your feelings to the objects, the more you realize the charm of the rest of the poem.
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.
