I am sad. My thoughts are in Yo-chou.
I would hurry there—but I am sick in bed.
…Beauty would be facing me across the autumn waters.
Oh, to wash my feet in Lake Tung-t'ing and see at its eight corners
Wildgeese flying high, sun and moon both white,
Green maples changing to red in the frosty sky,
Angels bound for the Capital of Heaven, near the North Star,
Riding, some of them phœnixes, and others unicorns,
With banners of hibiscus and with melodies of mist,
Their shadows dancing upside-down in the southern rivers,
Till the Queen of the Stars, drowsy with her nectar,
Would forget the winged men on either side of her!
…From the Wizard of the Red Pine this word has come for me:
That after his earlier follower he has now a new disciple
Who, formerly at the capital as Emperor Liu's adviser,
In spite of great successes, never could be happy.
…What are a country's rise and fall?
Can flesh-pots be as fragrant as mountain fruit?…
I grieve that he is lost far away in the south.
May the star of long life accord him its blessing!
…O purity, to seize you from beyond the autumn waters
And to place you as an offering in the Court of Imperial Jade.
Original Poem:
「寄韩谏议注」
杜甫
今我不乐思岳阳， 身欲奋飞病在床。
美人娟娟隔秋水， 濯足洞庭望八荒。
鸿飞冥冥日月白， 青枫叶赤天雨霜。
玉京群帝集北斗， 或骑麒麟翳凤凰。
芙蓉旌旗烟雾落， 影动倒景摇潇湘。
星宫之君醉琼浆， 羽人稀少不在旁。
似闻昨者赤松子， 恐是汉代韩张良；
昔随刘氏定长安， 帷幄未改神惨伤。
国家成败吾岂敢？ 色难腥腐餐枫香。
周南留滞古所惜， 南极老人应寿昌。
美人胡为隔秋水？ 焉得置之贡玉堂。
Interpretation:
This is a poem written by Du Fu to Han Jianliang when he was in Kui Zhou in 767 AD. The poem reveals that in his early years, Han had participated in the planning of the restoration of Chang’an by Emperor Su Zong, but was later abandoned and lived in Hunan. Du Fu also followed Emperor Su Zong in Lingwu and served as the left collector. He was convicted of abandoning his post because of his efforts to save Fang Goon, and he lived in exile for a long time. Now, although he is “wandering in the southwest”, he still cares about the affairs of the country and sympathizes with Han, who has the same fate as him.
The poem is divided into four sections.
In the first stanza, the poet first describes his nostalgia for Han, who is far away from Dongting, and then imagines his life in seclusion. The poet wanted to visit him but could not because he was sick in bed, which shows the depth of his longing and the severity of his thoughts! The next four lines imagine that he is far away from the autumn water, Maundy Dongting, looking at the eight directions, such as geese flying in the frosty sky and moon white, maple red leaves in the realm, reproducing the image of his dusty high priests and noble and open-minded inner world.
The second paragraph, a metaphor for the court of power and wealth gathered, tends to inflame the power, but the high people are rare. The close ministers often drunkenly drank the agar, while those high and wise men (the feathered ones) were alienated and far away from Kyoto. This paragraph uses the scene of a fairy house as a metaphor to portray the scene of those powerful and noble people who are domineering and those who are far away from the high and mighty.
The third paragraph is about the reason why Han Jianliang was dismissed from his post, which is based on the rumor that Zhang Liang was a Han. In the third paragraph, the poet writes about the reason why Han Jianji was dismissed from the government from rumors, in which the surname of Han Jianji is harmonized with that of Zhang Liang after Zhang Liang was a Han, and then Zhang Liang’s support of Liu Bang in building up the country to the tour of Chisong Zi, which alludes to the fact that Han Jianji sought to help Su Zong recover Chang’an, and then abandoned the jianghu without the use of the court, which is not only the echo of the immortal realm in the previous paragraph, but also a strong counterpart to the reality.
The fourth paragraph is about the poet’s feelings and hopes. I hope that he will not be far away from the autumn water, but should be placed on the court.
The whole poem is similar to the poem of the immortal, with the immortal as a metaphor, hazy and misty, the Tao can not directly say its details of current events, vague and implicit; analogies, intriguing, not only expresses the dissatisfaction of the powerful and the rich and the concern for the affairs of the state, but also reveals the poet’s self-satisfaction of the sinking of the heart of the sorrowful.
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.
