孟郊诗

Poems of Meng Jiao


Index

题韦承总吴王故城下幽居

Inscribed at Wei Chengzong's secluded hut below King Wu's old city


(韦生相门子孙)
(Sharing Wei's home with posterity)

才饱身自贵
巷荒门岂贫
韦生堪继相
孟子愿依邻

After a meal that enriches the spirit,
Who could call this house inadequate?
With Wei willing to accompany me,
I wish I could remain his neighbor.

夜思琴语切
昼情茶味新
霜枝留过鹊
风竹扫蒙尘

Night musings. A qin's ardent notes.
Morning feelings. Aroma of fresh tea.
Frost covered branches. Lingering magpies.
Wind in bamboo clearing the pall of dust.

郢唱一声发
吴花千片春
对君何所得
归去觉情真

Song of Chu we sing as one.
Wu's blossoms, a thousand-petaled spring.
As for you, what will you gain
If you return out of pure love?

-- 孟郊


废话

This is Chu again, in spades, but in the new style of Five Gurglings. The present day north is gently present in the reality of a visit with a friend. And the beauties of the old south are doubly present. In line 9, it is not Songs of Chu but Songs of Ying (郢) the relocated Chu capital. King Wu is the king whose military losses led to that relocation. Lines 3 and 4 begin with the names of Wei Chengzong and Meng Jiao. But line 4 can also be translated as an allusion on Mengzi or Mencius who was the leading Confucian during the time of the old Chu kingdom some centuries later. But I don't know enough about Mengzi's writing to know what 愿依邻 would then refer to. The returning of Wei in the end can also be a returning of Wu to his original capital. This is probably the most literary and poetic allusion to the Kingdom of Chu so far. And all of it is set in a poem thanking Wei for such a nice visit in his out of the way home, which is probably quite a bit nicer than a hut.


Index