孟郊诗
Poems of Meng Jiao
Index
戏赠陆大夫十二丈
A Teasing Gift for Dr. Lu, in twelves lines
（一作乐府戏赠陆大夫十二丈）
(Lyric poem of twelve lines written to tease Dr. Lu.)
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莲子不可得 荷花生水中 犹胜道傍柳 无事荡春风 |
Lotus leaves don't stand a chance With flowers floating in midstream. Not like the roadside willows who Are free to dance in winds of spring. |
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渌萍与荷叶 同此一水中 风吹荷叶在 渌萍西复东 |
Duckweed and lotus leaves Share these river waters. Breezes come, the lotus stay. But duckweed always floats away. |
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莲叶未开时 苦心终日卷 春水徒荡漾 荷花未开展 |
Lotus leaves are not yet open. They struggle all day, bitterly. When spring freshets come, they'll open. But it still won't be their blossoming day. |
-- 孟郊
废话
We can say several things about this poem without figuring very much out. The count of twelve lines is certainly important to Meng Jiao. He counts them twice and mentions, too, that this is a Lyric Poem. Perhaps it is another experiment in New Lyric poetry, which would make him older. Or it's an experiment with lyric poems he's making on his own, which makes him younger. We're not sure what he's teasing Dr. Lu about. But he mentions that twice too.
Floating duckweed is a symbol of wanderers and wastrels. And line three and four manage to have pairs of euphemisms. I'm not big on waving euphemisms around. But in this case, Meng Jiao may be slipping in that the Duckweed Doctor spends too much time with the working girls. But that's an aside because we go on into botanic symbolism and leave the girls behind.
Best guess here is that Dr. Lu criticised the possibilities of lyric poetry and perhaps the poetic abilities of Meng Jiao. Meng Jiao responds, in twelve lyric lines, that (a) the doctor is a sensualist, (b) he won't last as long as the lotus (presumably Meng Jiao), and (c) admits that he actually does have a ways to go -- Meng's leaves are almost out and the blossoms come even after that. This final bit shows a kind of honesty in Meng Jiao's opinion of himself, which will make the doctor feel better or worse, depending on how he takes it.
(Later: see poem 180)