[updated October 2022]
Feelings Arise: Eight Poems: Nos. 7 and 8
感 兴： 八 首
(7)
曷 来 荆 山 客
谁 为 珉 玉 分？
良 宝 绝 见 弃
虚 持 三 献 君。
直 木 忌 先 伐
芬 兰 哀 自 焚。
盈 满 天 所 损
沉 冥 道 所 群。
东 海 有 碧 水
西 山 多 白 云。
鲁 连 及 夷 齐
可 以 蹑 清 芬。
Gan Xing: Ba Shou
(7)
He lai jing shan ke
Shei wei min yu fen?
Liang bao jue jian qi
Xu chi san xian jun.
Zhi mu ji xian fa
Fen lan ai zi fen.
Ying man tian suo qun
Chen ming dao suo qun.
Dong hai you bi shui
Xi shan duo bai yun.
Lu lian ji yi qi
Ke yi nie qing fen.
(8)
嘉 谷 隐 丰 草
草 深 苗 且 稀。
农 夫 既 不 异
孤 穗 将 安 归？
常 恐 隐 畴 陇
忽 与 秋 蓬 飞。
乌 得 荐 宗 庙
为 君 生 光 辉？
Jia gu yin feng cao
Cao shen miao qie xi.
Nong fu ji bu yi
Gu sui jiang an gui?
Chang kong yin chou long
Hu yu qiu peng fei.
Wu dei jian zong miao
Wei jun sheng guang hui?
Feelings Arise: Eight Poems: Nos. 7 and 8
(7)
Why come to Mt. Jing as a visitor
And who can distinguish rock from jade?
Finest and most unique treasure seen, and then thrown away
Three times you displayed it.
Straight-grained trees enviously cut down first
Fragrant tree sorrows, first to be burned.
Blessed and endowed by Heaven, quickly attacked and diminished
Subside into obscurity, the Dao huddles here.
Eastern sea has bluish-green water
And western mountains white clouds where many find seclusion.
Lu Lian attained the same level as the ancients
Can still follow their pure fragrance.
(8)
Good grains hidden within plentiful grasses
Grasses so deep, sprouts are rare.
If farmers cannot differentiate and separate
How can the tasseled support and survive?
Often fear the hidden within plots and furrows
Neglected, give autumn tumbleweeds the gift of flight.
How can one give devotions to the imperial, ancestral shrines
Make you emerge into radiance and glory?
Notes:
Mt. Jing: Located in western Hubei Province.
The tasseled: High level government officials.
Commentary:
The quatrain in number seven that begins with “Straight-grained trees…” comes right out of passages by the Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi.