[updated September 2022]
Read Aloud the Collected Poems of Li Bai and Du Fu, Later Wrote Some of My Own
读 李 杜 诗 集 因 题 卷 后
翰 林 江 在 日
员 外 剑 南 时。
不 得 高 官 职
仍 逢 苦 乱 离。
暮 年 逋 客 恨
浮 世 谪 仙 悲。
吟 咏 流 千 古
声 名 动 四 夷。
文 场 供 秀 句
乐 府 得 新 辞。
天 意 君 须 会
人 间 要 好 诗。
Du Li Du Shi Ji Yin
Han lin jiang zai ri
Yuan wai jian nan shi.
Bu de gao guan zhi
Reng feng ku luan li.
Mu nian bu ke hen
Fu shi zhe xian bei.
Yin yong liu qian gu
Sheng ming dong si yi.
Wen chang gong xiu ju
Yue fu de xin ci.
Tian yi jun xu hui
Ren jian yao hao shi.
Read Aloud the Collected Poems of Li Bai and Du Fu, Later Wrote Some of My Own
Han Lin worker, Li Bai daily on the left side of the Changjiang
Du Fu as a low-level military aide during the times of national stress.
They never got a senior-level government position
Frequently inside the bitter chaos.
Du Fu in his sunset years gave up on government service
Li Bai within a superficial society, banished and sad like an immortal from heaven.
However they wrote thousands of poems that flowed
Verses famous also in the small and bordering nations.
Literature circles found their lines elegant
Music houses awaited their newly created poems.
Heaven must have planned and known we must get together sometime
Humanity needs good poetry, so it is important that I keep on.
Notes:
Han Lin worker: Refers to the Han Lin Academy that was established during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. Elite scholars were gathered to interpret the classic literature for the court, and to maintain the imperial examinations.