孟郊诗
Poems of Meng Jiao
Index
旅次湘沅有怀灵均
Traveling once, on Chu's rivers, I thought on Qu Yuan
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分拙多感激 久游遵长途 经过湘水源 怀古方踟蹰 |
It's simply that I'm in his debt. That old journey, following a long road, Passing through the source of Chu's waters, Recalling the past that shimmered all around me. |
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旧称楚灵均 此处殒忠躯 侧聆故老言 遂得旌贤愚 |
Long known as Chu's Divine Poet, This is where death came to you. I try to hear your venerable words, Satisfied if I am worthy of you. |
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名参君子场 行为小人儒 骚文衒贞亮 体物情崎岖 |
At a gathering of famous gentlemen, Your conduct was a humble scholar's. "Encountering Sorrow" boasts your pure light, Its form shaped by lofty feelings. |
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三黜有愠色 即非贤哲模 五十爵高秩 谬膺从大夫 |
Thrice banished, your tone was angry, Almost a model for virtuous sages. Five decades, your high nobility Bore the lies of high officials. |
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胸襟积忧愁 容鬓复凋枯 死为不吊鬼 生作猜谤徒 |
Your breast, amassing sorrows, Withered your temples white. Dying with your spirit unmourned, Your works were slandered in vain. |
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吟泽洁其身 忠节宁见输 怀沙灭其性 孝行焉能俱 |
Graceful poems purified your life. Devoted remembrance, how could we see it lost? Coarse minds obscure your nature. Your filial ways, how can they be completed? |
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且闻善称君 一何善自殊 且闻过称己 一何过不渝 |
But hearing his goodness called noble, Why is goodness itself called otherwise? And hearing his excellence called complete, Why isn't excellence unchanging? |
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悠哉风土人 角黍投川隅 相传历千祀 哀悼延八区 |
Free and unconstrained by conventional men, Rice balls offered to a distant river. Tradition of a thousand offerings, A mourning spread across a nation. |
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如今圣明朝 养育无羁孤 君臣逸雍熙 德化盈纷敷 |
Today our imperial court grows up Without a restraining emperor. Ruler and officials break up prosperity And virtue changes into a surfeit of confusion. |
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巾车徇前侣 白日犹昆吾 寄君臣子心 戒此真良图 |
As covered carts paraded before the company, In broad daylight I present these verses. I send to the hearts of rulers and officials An admonishment to truly take right steps. |
-- 孟郊
废话
This is the first of Meng Jiao's poems which I take to be an outright public criticism of his times. Previous ones were probably not so public because they were far less constrained. Qu Yuan, poet and official, drowned himself in protest of his times. He drowned himself in the Miluo River near Lake Dongting which is the heart of the waters of Chu.