Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Dreaming of Li Bai (by Du FU)

 

All day long

Rows of clouds

Drift across the horizon

Wanderers who will never return

 

But for three nights now

You have appeared

In a dream so vivid

I could touch your flesh

 

Briefly you spoke

About your long hard journey

Crossing rivers and lakes

In a small fragile boat

Fearfully tossed

By wind and waves

 

While the capital teems

With the rich and powerful

And their lavish gear

There you stood in the doorway

Scratching your silvery head

A sign of life’s burdens

A lone and haggard man

 

No my friend

There’s not a single cloud

In the vast heavens

That could withstand

The rigors borne by

Your weary old frame

 

Surely you’ll enjoy

A thousand years

Or ten thousand years

Of the greatest fame

But still for now you’re destined

For a lonely and distant grave

 

 

 

夢李白 (之二)

 

浮雲終日行

 遊子久不至

 三夜頻夢君

 情親見君意

 告歸常局促

 苦道來不易

 江湖多風波

 舟楫恐失墜

 出門搔白首

 若負平生志

 冠蓋滿京華

 斯人獨憔悴

 孰云網恢恢

 將老身反累

 千秋萬歲名

 寂寞身後事