孟郊诗

Poems of Meng Jiao


Index

赠姚怤别

For Yao Fu's parting


美人废琴瑟
不是无巧弹
闻君郢中唱
始觉知音难

Beautiful woman gives up her lutes.
How will life be without your clever music?
I heard you sing in the city of Ying.
I begin to feel how much your talent will be missed.

惊蓬无还根
驰水多分澜
倦客厌出门
疲马思解鞍

As dandelion seeds never return to the stalk
And rushing rivers split into many currents,
The weary traveler hates to leave the gates.
But the tired horse yearns to lose the saddle.

何以写此心
赠君握中丹

How can I write what I feel right now?
Let me give you this vermilion in my hand.

-- 孟郊


废话

Yao Fu is probably a prefessional singer who is retiring. She could be quite old. There's the story of the young man who paid a fist of gold to see the face of a famous veiled singer. The woman turned out to be, physically, old and ugly. Yet she was the highest paid singer in Chang'an.

The only puzzle here is 丹 in the last line. This can be a pill or pellet, cinnabar for alchemy and immortality, vermilion for cosmetics and dying cloth. It is a vivid character and so must have had its symbolism which I am unable to grasp in this context.


Index