孟郊诗
Poems of Meng Jiao
Index
贫女词寄从叔先辈简
Sending you a "Poor Woman" lyric in response to your letter.
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蚕女非不勤 今年独无春 二月冰雪深 死尽万木身 |
Silkworm woman can't help but be diligent. This year, she's all alone and spring is late. It's almost the end of March. Hardpack snow lies deep. Cold has killed a lot of trees. People, too. |
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时令自逆行 造化岂不仁 仰企碧霞仙 高控沧海云 |
It's as if the seasons are running the wrong way. How can the Creator not be cruel? She gazes up in hope at blue heavens of rosy immortals, Loudly accuses the dark grey sea of clouds. |
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永别劳苦场 飘飖游无垠 |
Dying, she leaves behind fields of bitter labor And floats away to wander beyond all bounds. |
-- 孟郊
废话
This is a case of the title being the preface. And there is quite a bit in the preface. In the "Three Hundred Poems of the Tang" collection from the Ming dynasty, the is a poem "Poor Woman" by Qin Taoyu. And that's all we know of poor Qin Taoyu, no dates to place his life in time. We do know that "Poor Woman" is a regulated verse, eight lines of seven characters. So this poem of Meng Jiao's is not an answer-poem to Qin's poem or to a modification of Qin's poem by Meng's penpal. This letter writer is identified by 叔先辈. 叔 means, in this case, a friend of one's father's age. And 先辈 is a respectful reference to those of one's father's generation. So the "you" is a respected friend of Meng Jiao, from his father's generation.
The "lyric" (词) in the title is interesting. It suggests they are writing poems to the tune of some popular song called "Poor Woman." And this (kind of) suggests that Qin Taoyu's "Poor Woman" might come after this time. Perhaps the song endured and later inspired Qin to write a regulated verse of eight lines, even though a verse of the song has ten lines. And that's about as many ifs as I want to suppose.
造化 is often translated as "Nature" but that is an anachronistic mistake. "Nature," as we use it, is roughly as old as Wordsworth. Much of our concept of it comes from his poems. In Meng Jiao's world, it is more like 父母, the Father-Mother and source of the Dao (道). Which makes Meng Jiao's usage here unique, as far as I know. (Which is to say, "in my experience so far....") He is speaking in a much more modern way than his contemporaries when he says "How can God not be cruel?" It took us a long time to say such things in the West. Although, in every case, saying such indicates a limited sense of God and man. I'd explain that but it won't fit on the margin of this page.
Finally, "silkworm woman" refers to the women in sericulture. And the dead trees would be mulberry trees, used to feed the silkworms.