This is the road by which I fled,
When the rebels had reached the west end of the city;
And terror, ever since, has clutched at my vitals
Lest some of my soul should never return.
...The court has come back now, filling the capital;
But the Emperor sends me away again.
Useless and old, I rein in my horse
For one last look at the thousand gates.
Original Poem:
「至德二载…有悲往事」
杜甫
此道昔归顺， 西郊胡正繁。
至今残破胆， 应有未招魂。
近得归京邑， 移官岂至尊。
无才日衰老， 驻马望千门。
Interpretation:
This poem recalls the time when the poet fled to Fengxiang from the middle road of Hu Dust with pain and emotion.
The first line starts from the “sad past”, describing the danger of fleeing from the tiger’s mouth in the past. One is to say that at that time, the Anshi rebels were so powerful that the court was in danger; the other is to say that there were many enemies outside the west gate and frequent exchanges, so it was really difficult to escape, which better shows the poet’s infinite loyalty to the court.
The jaw further expresses the critical situation when fleeing back in the past, stretching the foot before the intention and then secretly turn the following, after the past and hurt today, the sentiment of the song. The chapter has the effect of a golden needle.
Then turn to write this sad, full of loyalty but was outside the depreciation, this is the emperor is mean and unforgiving, is the emperor himself alienated from him, du fu in these two sentences still contains the feelings of resentment, only to say that the euphemisms are just.
The last line in the self-injury and self-sighing in the lyric of attachment to the court can not bear to go, the feelings of complex and deep, although written in a very subtle way, is actually in the blame Suzong.
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.
