Du Fu: Hawk Painting

 

Hawk Painting

 

画 鹰
素 练 风 霜 起
苍 鹰 画 作 殊。
 身 思 狡 兔
侧 目 似 愁 胡。
绦 旋 光 堪 摘
轩 楹 势 可 呼。
何 当 击 凡 鸟
毛 血 洒 平 芜!
Hua Ying

Su lian feng shuang qi
Cang ying hua zuo shu.
Song shen si jiao tu
Ce mu si chou hu.

Tao xuan guang kan zhai
Xuan ying shi ke hu.
He dang ji fan niao
Mao xue sa ping wu!

Hawk Painting

Clear and white silk like rising winds and frost
Sky hawk painting is unique.
Body upright and firm, thinking of the sly rabbits
With a sidelong glance, melancholy like the northern nomads.

He chooses what to look at while on his silk ribbon tether
Atop a lofty pillar with an appearance of power.
He should not attack the ordinary birds of this world
Blood and feathers splattered too easily on the flat plains.