白居易诗
Poems of Bai Juyi
Index
观稼
Watching the Sowers
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世役不我牵 身心常自若 |
A life of labor is not my burden. My mind and body rarely are disturbed. |
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晚出看田亩 闲行旁村落 |
I went out late to see the fields. My idle walk ended beside a village. |
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累累绕场稼 啧啧群飞雀 |
In endless circles, above sown fields, Flocks of sparrows chattered. |
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年丰岂独人 禽鸟声亦乐 |
In a year of plenty, how does a lonely man Sing and chatter like these birds? |
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田翁逢我喜 默起具尊杓 |
An old man was pleased to meet me, Rose quietly, offered a ladle of drink. |
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敛手笑相延 社酒有残酌 |
We smiled as the ladle changed hands. It was the last of the local wine. |
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愧兹勤且敬 藜杖为淹泊 |
His respect and life of toil shamed me a little, His frail staff like an anchor in a flood. |
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言动任天真 未觉农人恶 |
His words and conduct, free and artless, He was not ashamed to be a farmer. |
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停杯问生事 夫种妻儿获 |
I drank the wine and asked about his life, Of planting, wife and child, and harvest. |
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筋力苦疲劳 衣食常单薄 |
His strength worn down by long fatigue, His food and clothing mostly thin. |
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自惭禄仕者 曾不营农作 |
I am ashamed of my official salary. I've never had to work as farmers do. |
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饥食无所劳 何殊卫人鹤 |
Never hungry, never knowing hard work, What kind of fate protects a man like me? |
-- 白居易
废话
This poem is a lot like 观刈麦 - Watching the Barley Harvest. Bai Juyi enjoys farming and talking to farmers. He also enjoys feeling a little ashamed at the disparity between his life and the life of the common man. I think he is sincere, if a bit too sentimental. Throughout his life Bai Juyi was unfailingly idealistic and sentimental. So the God of Poetry has a bleeding heart. It's too bad the gods of our world lack his compassion.