孟郊诗

Poems of Meng Jiao


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汝州陆中丞席喜张从事至同赋十韵

Ru Prefecture, Lu Zhongcheng entertains our banquet at length with his ten-rhymed lyric poems


汝水无浊波
汝山饶奇石
大贤为此郡
佳士来如积

Ru waters without turbid waves.
Ru hills with wild, strange rocks.
A worthy of this prefecture, a fine man,
Comes with his abundance.

有客乘白驹
奉义惬所适
清风荡华馆
雅瑟泛瑶席

There are guests one knows but a moment,
Esteeming justice, comfortable with their place.
Their pure manner cleanses their surroundings.
Their elegant music suffuses a fine feast.

芳醑静无喧
金尊光有涤
纵情孰虑损
听论自招益

Fragrant wine, peace without clamor,
Golden vessels gleaming with purity.
Indulging oneself without harm or worry.
Just listening to him brings advantage.

愿折若木枝
却彼曜灵夕
贵贱一相接
忧悰忽转易

Some poems break you like a tree branch.
Others shine like planets in a magic night.
Rich and poor are gathered all together.
Joy and sorrow swiftly turn and turn again.

会合勿言轻
别离古来惜
请君驻征车
良遇难再觌

Meeting him, I could not easily speak.
And saying goodbye has always been sad.
Please, Sir, stay your journey.
Such good chances rarely come again.

-- 孟郊


废话

Two things strike me about this poem. One is that Lu Zhongcheng's poetry did not survive to our day. Perhaps it didn't even outlive the Tang. I think it delusional to believe that time somehow preserves only the best. It preserves what man preserves. And in most men, taste is questionable. Perhaps the finest rarely survives, for who would appreciate it?

Secondly, the title seems to clearly give the sense of "ten-rhymed lyric poems" and not "ten rhymed lyric poems." Actual word order is "lyric poems of ten rhymes." So was this rhyme-form a creation of Lu Zhongcheng? Or is this an element of lyric form which has escaped later analysis? (Or am I as ignorant as a swan?)


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