孟郊诗

Poems of Meng Jiao


Index

答昼上人止谗作

Responding to Monk Zhou, who should stop bad-mouthing poetry


烈烈鸑鷟吟
铿铿琅玕音
枭摧明月啸
鹤起清风心

Sad cries of a young phoenix.
Tinkling sounds of pearl-white stones.
The owl shatters the full moon with his cries
As the crane rises with his pure heart.

渭水不可浑
泾流徒相侵
俗侣唱桃叶
隐士鸣桂琴

Wei River cannot be tainted.
Jing's flow encroaches, but in vain.
My simple companions sing among the peach trees
As the hermits chant to their cassia lutes.

子野真遗却
浮浅藏渊深

Children of the wild truly leave enduring legacies.
The surface they float on hides its profundities.

-- 孟郊


废话

The owl, symbol of evil, is Monk Zhou. The crane, symbol of integrity, is Meng Jiao. The Wei, symbol of China's continuous history and culture, is Meng Jiao's milieu. Its Jing tributary, symbol of which eludes me but I'm sure it has an appropriate significance, is Monk Zhou's diminished viewpoint. Meng Jiao is so Henry Thoreau. If you listen, you can hear them singing together in the arbor of immortal peaches which encircles Walden Pond.


Index