60 - With Respects to the Henan Magistrate

A few days ago I celebrated my 60th birthday.  Discomforted by a severe head cold and few sleepless nights in the run up (thanks to both a hacking cough and an unaccustomed sense of nighttime dread), I hadn't been looking forward to the occasion.  But my wife threw a small party and I ended up being very sweetly escorted into the new decade with a handful of family and friends.  My younger son serenaded me with his rendition of Neil Young's Old Man Take a Look at My Life and my closest friends took the opportunity to embarrass me with stories regarding some of the poet's youthful indiscretions.

I wasn't going to let the chance pass by to read a translation of one of my favorite Tang poets.  I picked this poem by Bai Juyi.  Although it's not entirely clear, my best guess is that Bai Juyi is addressing himself here because he was, in fact, a governor in Henan right around the time he himself turned 60.

Sixty years old

Is the Henan magistrate

The outlook has become

Exceedingly clear

Age must be accepted

There’s no place to hide

Though illness is not

An immediate fear

Blessed by many days of

Fragrant blossoms

Still possessed of

Vigor and ample means

But the gold coins have

Lost their luster

One small cup seems

More than enough

The waters flow on

And time grows scarcer

Glory is slow in arriving

It sits like a cloud floating

On the distant horizon

Our human lot

Would be unbearable

Without wine

So let’s empty our cups

As our hair becomes

Finer than silk

* * * * *

六十拜河南尹

白居易

六十河南尹     前途足可知

老应无处避     病不与人期

幸遇芳菲日     犹富强健时

万金何假藉     一盏莫推辞

流水光阴急     浮云富贵迟

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人间苦无酒     尽合鬓成丝