孟郊诗
Poems of Meng Jiao
Index
送从叔校书简南归
Escorting my cousin Omissioner Jian as he returns to the South
（一作东游）
(Written while wandering east)
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长安别离道 宛在东城隅 寒草根未死 愁人心已枯 |
Chang'an's parting way seems to Begin in a corner of the eastern wall. Stalks of wildflowers not yet dead. Sad hearts of men already withered. |
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促促水上景 遥遥天际途 生随昏晓中 皆被日月驱 |
Almost dusk upon a river landscape, Road disappears into the far horizon. We begin by following it into dawn's gloaming Always driven hard by life and livelihood. |
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北骑达山岳 南帆指江湖 高踪一超越 千里在须臾 |
Ride north until you reach the mountains Or sail south, trusting in the wilds. Then take one great step further, A thousand leagues all in an instant. |
-- 孟郊
废话
Jian is clearly Meng Jiao's favorite young relative. Of course, young here could mean in his early forties. But here Meng is not with Jian. Here again we have Meng out wandering (east) in the wilds. And his farewell poem to Jian is not so much about Jian as it is an archetypal poem of our wandering into and through life.