鱼玄机诗
Poems of Yu Xuanji
Index
寄刘尚书
For Minister Liu
八座镇雄军 歌谣满路新 汾川三月雨 晋水百花春 |
Eight garrisons of mighty soldiers Sing folksongs as they fill the new roads. In March, Fen River swells with rain, its Waters advancing past fields of spring's blossoms. |
囹圄长空锁 干戈久覆尘 儒僧观子夜 羁客醉红茵 |
A prison that locks out the vast sky, Weapons of war long churn the dust. Scholars, monks, all gape at midnight As visitors arrive to get drunk on red cushions. |
笔砚行随手 诗书坐绕身 小材多顾盼 得作食鱼人 |
Ink and inkstone effortlessly follow the hand And our lives are bound up in the classics. Many small villages watch and hope For the proper lives of simple men. |
-- 鱼玄机
废话
This poem reminds me of Li Ye's poem for Minister Cui. It seems like a poem in responce for requested advice. Throughout Yu's adult life, wars and rebellions were constant. And this is a letter to a higher-ranking minister than Cui, possibly Liu Zhan who was a Chief Minister from 869-870. If this is the case, Yu Xuanji must have been very highly regarded in the capital and would have written this no earlier than 869 when she was 25. I note that she refrains from Daoist arguments and relies on human realities and the Confucian ideals of the court. She is wise for her years. Although, what a minister could do with this advice, under possibly the worst emperor of the Tang, is beyond me.