孟郊诗
Poems of Meng Jiao
Index
逢江南故昼上人会中郑方回
Returning from court, I come upon a meeting of old-school Jiangnan monks
|
相逢失意中 万感因语至 追思东林日 掩抑北邙泪 |
Meeting, amidst disappointments. So many feelings just from hearing them talk. A memorial for the dead in the Eastern Grove. Holding back tears on Mount Beimang. |
|
筐箧有遗文 江山旧清气 尘生逍遥注 墨故飞动字 |
A box of writing left behind in a Landscape full of ancient energy. A mortal life spent writing freely, Old ink flying down the page. |
|
荒毁碧涧居 虚无青松位 珠沉百泉暗 月死群象闭 |
By a crumbling hut beside a mountain stream, In nothingness, I sit amid green pines. Profound pearls in hundreds of dark springs, Shut to the common crowds by a dead moon. |
|
永谢平生言 知音岂容易 |
Eternal gratitude for a lifetime of words. But who is apt to sympathize deeply? |
-- 孟郊
废话
The first verse seems to be about meeting the monks on Mount Beimang during a funeral. But the funeral appears to turn Meng Jiao's thoughts inwards. He has been feeling for some time as if he were nearing the end of his life. We can see that his love for poetry and for Buddhist practice have endured to the end. And we can see that his wish is for his work to be understood.
The final line is more literally, "A close and sympathetic friend, who is likely to be that?" And line 12, which comes across as strikingly poetic, is possibly (probably) wrong. But it is the sense I make of [moon][dead][crowds][appearance][shut]. Mount Beimang (or just Mt. Mang) is near Luoyang.