Here, south of the Yang-tsze, grows a red orange-tree. All winter long its leaves are green, Not because of a warmer soil, But because its nature is used to the cold. Though it might serve your honourable guests, You leave it here, far below mountain and river. Circumstance governs destiny. Cause and effect are an i nfinite cycle. You plant your peach-trees and your plums, You forget the shade from this other tree.
Original Poem:
「感遇 Ⅶ」
江南有丹橘，经冬犹绿林。
岂伊地气暖，自有岁寒心。
可以荐嘉客，奈何阻重深!
运命唯所遇，循环不可寻。
徒言树桃李，此木岂无阴?
Interpretation:
The poem “Looking at the Moon and Missing Far Away” is a poem about missing a distant person on a moonlit night, written by the author when he was away from his hometown, looking at the moon and thinking of his distant relatives.
In the 21st year of Emperor Xuanzong’s reign (733), Zhang Jiuling was the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty. After being slandered and ostracized by the treacherous minister Li Linfu, he was dismissed from the post in the 24th year of Emperor Kaiyuan (736). The poem “Looking at the Moon and Reminiscing about the Faraway Land” was written after Zhang Jiuling was relegated to the post of governor of Jingzhou in the 24th year of the reign of Emperor Kaiyuan.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Zhang Jiuling (张九龄), 678-740 AD, was a native of Shaoguan, Guangdong. He was the last prime minister of the “Rule of Kaiyuan”, and was upright and upright. In 736 A.D., he was ostracized from the court and relegated to the post of Assassin of Jingzhou. He amused himself with literature and history, and wrote a lot of poems that were light, melancholy, and far-reaching.
