孟郊诗
Poems of Meng Jiao
Index
忽不贫喜卢仝书船归洛
Suddenly, happily, Lu Tong and his book boat return to Luoyang
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贫孟忽不贫 请问孟何如 卢仝归洛船 崔嵬但载书 |
Suddenly poor Meng is no longer poor. Hey, Meng, how does it feel? Lu Tong and his boat are back in town. Lofty man still publishing books. |
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江潮清翻翻 淮潮碧徐徐 夜信为朝信 朝信良卷舒 |
Luo's current, pure and overturning. Huai's current like glacial jade. Always steady, night and morning. Mornings, its goodness ever unfolds. |
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江淮君子水 相送仁有馀 我去官色衫 肩经入君庐 |
Luo and Huai are gentlemen's rivers, Seeing us off with humanity to spare. I leave in my official clothes and Shoulder my way into your cabin. |
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喃喃肩经郎 言语倾琪琚 琪琚铿好词 鸟鹊跃庭除 |
You mutter I should act my age. Your words pour out like jewels. Jewels that ring in their fine lines Or dance like magpies in the yard. |
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书船平安归 喜报乡里闾 我愿拾遗柴 巢经于空虚 |
Book boat quietly returns. Bringing joyful news from our old home. I want to gather some firewood For this nest of yours and its emptiness. |
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下免尘土侵 上为云霞居 日月更相锁 道义分明储 |
Let's not mourn the encroaching dust But rise and dwell in colored clouds. Life ever always chains us down. But the good and just are not in vain. |
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不愿空岧峣 但愿实工夫 实空二理微 分别相起予 |
I don't want lofty heights. I just want my work to be true. Truth and emptiness, both profound. Their differences nurture each other. |
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经书荒芜多 为君勉勉锄 勉勉不敢专 传之方在诸 |
Good books are falling into desolation. Your work is the opposing force. No one dare call your struggle selfish. You pass on the legacy of all. |
-- 孟郊
废话
What in heaven's name is 肩经? Or 巢经? "Shoulder Classic" and "Nest Classic"? Idioms for "shouldering one's way through" and "living in a bird's (rat's) nest"? Or maybe cryptic personal references between friends? Or simply lost usages of 1300 year-old speech? At least the sense I've made of the mysteries are of a piece with what can be known of the above. So it's your usual translation, when you get right down to it. But "Shoulder Classic"?