A cold wind blows from the far sky...
What are you thinking of, old friend?
The wildgeese never answer me.
Rivers and lakes are flooded with rain.
...A poet should beware of prosperity,
Yet demons can haunt a wanderer.
Ask an unhappy ghost, throw poems to him
Where he drowned himself in the Milo River.
Original Poem:
「天末怀李白」
杜甫
凉风起天末， 君子意如何。
鸿雁几时到， 江湖秋水多。
文章憎命达， 魑魅喜人过。
应共冤魂语， 投诗赠汨罗。
Interpretation:
After writing “Seeing Li Bai in a dream”, the poet composed this poem to send his deep thoughts to his dear friend.
The first line: “The cool wind rises at the end of the sky, what does the gentleman mean.” The cool wind is the autumn wind. This couplet starts with the autumn wind, saying that in Qinzhou, the place at the end of the sky, the autumn wind has risen, the grass and trees are rusty, and people have a sense of sadness, so how does Li Bai feel and his state of mind? Distant greetings, sincere feelings, profoundly expressed the depth of the poet’s nostalgia for his friend.
When will you send the geese to me on your way to exile? You are passing through Xiaoxiang and Dongting, and the storms are dangerous and obstructive, you must be careful! The deep nostalgia for the friend turns to sympathy for his life. The meaning is that “poetry can help the poor”, Li Bai suffered hardship because of his high talent, as if the article hates the fate of the people who have a good fortune. On the other hand, the writings of those who have good fates are generally not famous. Just as demons and devils like to eat people who have passed by, so do the cunning people always compete to harm the gentleman and the talented people. This couplet describes his life, expresses his sympathy and sends out his feelings, and highly summarizes the tragic fate of the talented and wise people who have been framed repeatedly and have had a lot of misfortune.
The last couplet says that the fate is more or less favorable, following the previous couplet, because Li Bai was exiled to cross the river Xiang, naturally thought of the patriotic poet Qu Yuan, who was slandered and exiled, sunk himself in Miluo, Li Bai’s encounters are the same as that of Qu Yuan, and thought that Li Bai would be the same as that of Qu Yuan, and the words of the “wronged soul”, written in verse, to Qu Yuan to tell his sorrows!
The whole poem is very earnest and sincere, with a low and gentle tone. Because of the autumnal wind and feelings, the scene is blended; by Li Bai’s misfortune and sympathy, which shows the preciousness of friendship!
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.
