[updated September 2022]
Poem of Bamboo Branches: No. 4
竹 枝 词
江 畔 谁 人 唱 竹 枝
前 声 断 咽 后 声 迟。
怿 来 调 苦 缘 词 苦
多 是 通 州 词 吗 诗。
Zhu Zhi Ci
Jiang pan shei ren chang zhu zhi?
Qian sheng duan yan hou sheng chi.
Yi lai diao ku yuan ci ku
Duo shi tong zhou ci ma shi.
Poem of Bamboo Branches: No. 4
What person is singing zhuzhi songs from the riverbank?
Early sounds later change into garbled tones slow and delayed.
Now I realize why these words and melodies are so sad
Many of these poems were written by Tongzhou’s Yuan Zhen.
Notes:
Zhu zhi music: Ancient folk songs with love as their main theme. Can also be poems in the classical style portraying local customs.
Yuan Zhen: (779-831) Famous Mid-Tang Dynasty poet and novelist. Friend and member of Bai Juyi’s inner circle. Together they made the “Green Mountain Pact” where they agreed to retire together as Daoist recluses. Yuan wrote a tombstone inscription for the poet Du Fu. His work will be found on this website in the coming months.