白居易诗

Poems of Bai Juyi


Index

洛中偶作

By Chance along Luo River


(自此后在东都作)

(After working in the eastern capital.)

五年职翰林
四年莅浔阳

Five years working as a Brush Woods scholar,
Four years administering Xunyang,

一年巴郡守
半年南宫郎

One year serving down in Sichuan,
Half a year within the Southern Palace,

二年直纶阁
三年刺史堂

Then two more years inside the Silk Pavillion,
Three years in a provincial governor's hall,

凡此十五载
有诗千馀章

Inside this fifteen years of sameness,
I've written more than a thousand poems in all.

境兴周万象
土风备四方

My interests have encircled all the world.
The people's songs came in from all directions.

独无洛中作
能不心悢悢

Alone here by Luo River, there's nothing
And I can't help feeling pretty sad.

今为青宫长
始来游此乡

Now I'm a courtier in a prince's palace.
And wandering down here for the first time.

裴回伊涧上
睥睨嵩少傍

A mountain stream causes me to linger,
With Mount Song's slopes in the corner of my eye.

遇物辄一咏
一咏倾一觞

By chance, I pass a man who's singing.
We sing his song and then we drink a cup.

笔下成释憾
卷中同补亡

This writing brush releases my regret,
Sweeps it out together with my loss.

往往顾自哂
眼昏须鬓苍

Often, I look back and simply smile.
My eyes grow dim, my beard and temples grey.

不知老将至
犹自放诗狂

I don't know where my old age will take me.
My only sign of dementia is my poems.

-- 白居易


废话

Let's not feel too sorry for Bai Juyi here. It is 824 and he is 52 years old. He will live another 22 years. He may be going a bit grey. But as he writes this, he is leaving the governorship of Hangzhou for the easy life of an Imperial Tutor in Luoyang. Poor baby.

This poem does express how tired he is of official life. Although I'm sure he knows that the only better career would have been the cultured idleness of the wealthy, which would not have been good for his poetry. Note that even here he manages to find some man of the people to drink and sing with. And he still can't help making fun of himself in the final lines. Even in maudlin middle age, he is still our Bai Juyi.

Index