[updated October 2022]
Go to Visit Li Yong
上 李 邕
大 鹏 一 日 同 风 起
抟 摇 直 上 九 万 里。
假 令 风 歇 时 下 来
犹 能 簸 却 沧 溟 水。
世 人 见 我 恒 硃 调
见 余 大 言 皆 冷 笑。
宣 父 犹 能 畏 后 生
丈 夫 未 可 轻 年 少。
Shang Li Yong
Da peng yi ri tong feng qi
Tuan yao zhi shang niu wan li.
Jia ling feng xie shi xia lai
You neng bo que cang ming shui.
Shi ren jian wo heng zhu tiao
Jian yu da yan jie leng xiao.
Xuan fu you neng wei hou sheng
Zhang fu wei ke qing nian shao.
Go to Visit Li Yong
One day the large roc and the winds arise
Water-sprout over thirty thousand miles high.
Previously I made a false command to stop the winds
Losing its energy, the funnel returns into the dark blue ocean water.
Society’s people see me as not mixing in with the ordinary
All with cynical laughter, they push aside my lofty words.
Our national ancestor, Kongzi, sometimes in awe of young people
Middle-aged people not relaxed with those just a few years their junior.
Notes:
[This poem was written when Li Bai was a typical and overconfident nineteen year old.]
Li Yong: At this time he was a middle-age Chengdu mayor when this poem was written. As a minor intellectual, he had a small group of local followers.
Roc: Very large mythological bird. Zhuangzi wrote of this bird is the few first lines that begin his Inner Chapters.
Kongzi: Confucius