孟郊诗
Poems of Meng Jiao
Index
吊李元宾坟
Mourning at Li Yuanbin's grave
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晓上荒凉原 吊彼寂寥魂 眼咽此时泪 耳凄在日言 冥冥千万年 坟锁孤松根 |
Sunrise upon a desolate cool plain. Mourning, we lower his lonely spirit. Tears well up now, blinding me, Ears chilled by this day's eulogy. Gone to darkness for a million years, This tomb seals the roots of a lonely pine. |
-- 孟郊
废话
There is an interesting interesting movement in the literal meaning of line 2. The first two characters are [mourning/lowering][(with)others] and the last three are [lonely][sky spirit] "lonely" being a bigram. So as those at the funeral are lowering (or at least, placing) Li's body in the grave as they mourn, Li's lonely sky spirit is rising to Heaven.
Although, it's not that simple. "Religiously" there was the belief in two spirits. The 魄 went down into the grave and the netherworld. The 魂, which is in this poem, went up to Heaven. But in the mind of Meng Jiao, Li is going down to darkness. Dead is dead. Religious beliefs are small comfort sometimes.
Glancing at the few poems left, I don't expect things to get any more cheerful here at the end of all things Meng Jiao. I wish he'd go up in the mountains and renew himself, for everyone's sake.