孟郊诗

Poems of Meng Jiao


Index

自商行谒复州卢使君虔

My Autumn Walk, Visiting Again Our Country Hut, with Reverence


一身绕千山
远作行路人
未遂东吴归
暂出西京尘

A life spent rounding a thousand hills,
Working away from home, a traveling man.
Haven't managed to get back to Eastern Wu.
So now I'm leaving Chang'an's dust.

仲宣荆州客
今余竟陵宾
往迹虽不同
托意皆有因

Next, I'm declared a Jingzhou guest.
Now I'm staying in Jingling.
Old places, no longer the same.
My thoughts lean on them anyway.

商岭莓苔滑
石坂上下频
江汉沙泥洁
永日光景新

Autumn peaks with slippery moss,
Up and down the rocky slopes.
Jianghan's sand and mud is pure,
Eternal sunlight making everything new.

独泪起残夜
孤吟望初晨
驱驰竟何事
章句依深仁

Up all night, crying alone.
Chanting alone as I watch the sunrise.
What was the good of this running around
When permanent words rely on profound kindness?

-- 孟郊


废话

I can feel it in my bones that Meng Jiao, in this poem, has taken a trip back to where he and his first wife traveled west, ending up where she died while he was away. They must have lived in what, during the second century AD, was Eastern Wu. He repeats their trip and winds up staying in their old hut, where he spends a very sad night. One can imagine it now as a decaying, weathered hut, in the hills overlooking some western town.


Index