It is almost as hard for friends to meet
As for the morning and evening stars.
Tonight then is a rare event,
Joining, in the candlelight,
Two men who were young not long ago
But now are turning grey at the temples.
…To find that half our friends are dead
Shocks us, burns our hearts with grief.
We little guessed it would be twenty years
Before I could visit you again.
When I went away, you were still unmarried;
But now these boys and girls in a row
Are very kind to their father's old friend.
They ask me where I have been on my journey;
And then, when we have talked awhile,
They bring and show me wines and dishes,
Spring chives cut in the night-rain
And brown rice cooked freshly a special way.
…My host proclaims it a festival,
He urges me to drink ten cups --
But what ten cups could make me as drunk
As I always am with your love in my heart?
…Tomorrow the mountains will separate us;
After tomorrow-who can say?
Original Poem:
「赠卫八处士」
杜甫
人生不相见， 动如参与商。
今夕复何夕， 共此灯烛光。
少壮能几时， 鬓发各已苍。
访旧半为鬼， 惊呼热中肠。
焉知二十载， 重上君子堂。
昔别君未婚， 儿女忽成行。
怡然敬父执， 问我来何方。
问答乃未已， 驱儿罗酒浆。
夜雨剪春韭， 新炊间黄粱。
主称会面难， 一举累十觞。
十觞亦不醉， 感子故意长。
明日隔山岳， 世事两茫茫。
Interpretation:
In June of 758 A.D., Du Fu was demoted and went to Luoyang in the winter. In the spring of 759 A.D., he returned to Huazhou from Luoyang and met with Wei Bashi. Through the description of his meeting with Wei Bashi after a long time of separation and fond farewells, the poem reproduces the life scene of the war and disaster, which is characterized by the impermanence of gathering and separation, and the difficulty of meeting and parting, and expresses the lamentation of a life of uncertainty in the world.
The poem is divided into four layers. The first layer emphasizes the difficulty of meeting each other, describes the joy of getting together temporarily, and recounts the feelings of parting under the light tonight.
In the second layer, the poem talks about parting from life to death and reunion. I remember when we parted, we are still young and strong, but now “sideburns have been pale”, has become a gray-headed man, leading to the world, life is unpredictable feelings. And then from each other to ask the whereabouts of friends and relatives, I did not expect that half of them have been “for the ghost”, not on earth! So, each other exclaimed, the heart is difficult!
The third layer, write Wei eight children into the trip and the hospitality of the scene. Write out the twenty years of years in a hurry, the late twilight has come to sigh! When the question and answer has not been, and then go to set up the wine paste, braving the night rain to cut the spring leeks to do the dishes, cook the fragrant rice mixed with sorghum, hospitality, reproduced their courteous, friendly and lovely mood.
The fourth layer, write the host and guest drink and the lamentation of world affairs. In the war in the old people reunited to talk about the old, is really unfortunate in the fortunate, and thus the heart comfortable, happy drinking, a series of ten cups of wine. Dufu, as a guest, felt the deep friendship of his friends, and also drank ten cups of wine.
The whole poem with the technique of white description, simple language, from lamenting the difficulties of meeting, recounting the joy of reunion, exclaiming the death of an old friend, happy to see the nephew’s intimacy, until tomorrow will be parted and melancholy, narrative and lyrical, the order is well organized. Write affectionate and sincere, narrative history in the present.
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.
