[updated September 2022]
Late Spring: Send to Zhang the Eighth While I Lie Sick in Bed
晚 春 卧 病 寄 张 八
南 陌 春 将 晚
北 窗 犹 卧 病。
林 园 久 不 游
果 木 一 何 盛。
狭 径 花 将 尽
闲 庭 竹 扫 净。
翠 羽 戏 兰 苕
赪 鳞 动 荷 柄。
念 我 平 生 好
江 乡 远 从 政。
云 山 阻 梦 思
衾 枕 劳 歌 咏。
歌 咏 复 何 为？
同 心 恨 别 离。
世 途 皆 自 媚
流 俗 寡 相 知。
贾 谊 才 空 逸
安 仁 鬓 欲 垂。
遥 情 每 东 注
奔 晷 复 西 驰。
常 恐 填 沟 壑
无 由 振 羽 仪。
穷 通 若 有 命
欲 向 论 中 推。
Wan Chun Wo Bing Ji Zhang Ba
Nan mo chun jiang wan
Bei chuang you wo bing.
Lin yuan jiu bu you
Guo mu yi he cheng.
Xia jing hua jiang jin
Xian ting zhu sao jing.
Cui yu xi lan tiao
Cheng lin dong he bing.
Nian wo ping sheng hao
Jiang xiang yun cong zheng.
Yun shan zu meng si
Qin zhen lao ge yong.
Ge yong fu he wei?
Tong xin hen bie li.
Shi tu jie zi mei
Liu su gua xiang zhi.
Gu yi cai kong yi
An ren bin yu chui.
Yao qing mei dong zhu
Ben gui fu xi chi.
Chang kong tian gou he
Wu you zhen yu yi.
Qiong tong re you ming
Yu xiang lun zhong tui.
Late Spring: Send to Zhang the Eighth While I Lie Sick in Bed
Spring is going to be late along the southern paths
At a Northern window, still lie down sick.
For a long time unable to walk in the forest park
Trees and grass all coming out.
Flowers along the narrow path almost gone
Front courtyard for leisure, already swept clean by a bamboo broom.
Green-feathered bird plays in the orchids
Red fish move the lotus stems.
Long to be with my best friends
In Jiangsu province, you with a minor government position.
Cloudy mountains obstruct my dreams and concentration
With quilt and pillows, very hard to write this poem.
How can I express all of this
We, with one heart-mind, have to bear being apart.
By myself, unrecognized on life’s road
Of those following the current crowd, I know few.
Like Jia Yi, you are of very high ability above the others
An Ren is white-haired like me.
Emotions and consciousness go with you on the eastern river
Sun’s shadows move quickly to the west.
Often fear I am close to death
Cannot move forward to fly.
Either poor or rich, to the life and destiny of prajna
Want to read the Analects to see my final fate.
Notes:
Northern window: Literary allusion and metaphor used by Tao Yuanming to refer to a place of rural seclusion.
Jia Yi: An ancient man with a high level of education.
An Ren: Another man from ancient times with advanced literary and cultural skills.
Prajna: Sanskrit word meaning the highest level of knowledge and understanding.