孟郊诗
Poems of Meng Jiao
Index
寄陕府邓给事
For Deng, Who is Looking for a Position in Shan City
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陕城临大道 馆宇屹几鲜 候谒随芳语 铿词芬蜀笺 |
Shan City is on the great road, Its inns surrounded by towering freshness. Calling on superiors, conform to fragrant speech, Tinkling words such as Li Bai would use. |
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从来镜目下 见尽道心前 自谓古诗量 异将新学偏 |
Whenever you've looked in the mirror, You've seen your right heart before you. You've measured yourself against ancient poetry. It's different to be sidetracked by the new. |
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戆人年六十 每月请三千 不敢等闲用 愿为长寿钱 |
I'm a stupid old man of sixty but Every month I ask three thousand questions. I don't dare thoughtlessly waste effort Or worry about long life or money. |
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非关亦洁尔 将以救羸然 孤省痴皎皎 默吟写绵绵 |
Don't turn back. Remain pure. There won't be anyone to help you. In that lonely city, let your craziness shine. Chant poems. Write endlessly. |
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病书凭昼日 驿信寄宵鞭 疾诉将何谕 肆鳞今倒悬 |
Bad writing thrives on sunshine. Real writing suffers through the night. What's to be gained by sickly narration? Shiny wantoness is our current peril. |
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尘鲤见枯浪 土鬣思干泉 感感无绪荡 愁愁作�边 |
Stranded fish watch the withering waves. Caked in dirt, they miss their drying springs. Sorrowful, without a hint of water, Full of worries, they write upon the shore. |
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贞元文祭酒 比谨学韦玄 满坐风无杂 当朝雅独全 |
Pure origin, culture pours the libation. It's as solemn as the study of mysteries. The audience waits in a changelessness That can only be fulfilled by elegance. |
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见知嘱徐孺 赏句类陶渊 一顾生鸿羽 再言将鹤翩 |
Be known for instructing the children calmly. Value the works of Tao Yuanming. Study the wings of the wild geese So your writing can fly like the crane. |
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宣扬隘车马 君子凑骈阗 曾是此同眷 至今应赐怜 |
Proclaim the invasion of the passes. Join together with worthy gentlemen. Once we all shared these values. As it is, we should show some pity. |
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磨墨零落泪 楷字贡仁贤 |
Grind your ink with your falling tears. Make your writing a gift of humane virtue. |
-- 孟郊
废话
This poem too is miscollated in the scrolls. If Meng Jiao is sixty, he is four years from gone forever. Here he writes a fellow writer who is presumably his younger friend. You wouldn't write this way to a peer, even if you were Meng Jiao. We have no idea who Deng is. This is his first appearance.
Both men apparently have been writing the the "ancient style" of poetry (古诗). This is poetry before the advent of a lot of rules. And Meng Jiao is certainly not one to follow any rules. The new poetry Deng has been turning to would be either regulated verse or the even newer lyric verse.
In this poem, Meng Jiao is saying: "Stay free of useless rules. Avoid fashion. Avoid shallow writing. Make the effort to put real words to paper."
In line 24, character 4 is apparently illegible in the scrolls. The ellision occurs not only in PRC simplified copies but in traditional character copies as well.