[updated September ]
At Dou Xia, Send Off Xin Da Back to Hubei
都 下 送 辛 大 之 鄂
南 国 辛 居 士
言 归 旧 竹 林。
未 逢 调 鼎 用
徒 有 済 川 心。
予 亦 忘 机 者
田 园 在 漢 陰。
因 君 故 乡 去
遥 寄 式 微 吟。
Dou Xia Song Xin Da Zhi E
Nan guo xin ju shi
Yan gui jiu zhu lin.
Wei feng tiao ding yong
Tu you ji chuan xin.
Yu yi wang ji zhe
Tian yuan zai han yin.
Yin jun gu xiang qu
Yao ji shi wei yin.
At Dou Xia, Send Off Xin Da Back to Hubei
In the southern country, Xin is a retired scholar
Said to return to an old bamboo forest of revered artists and intellectuals.
You did not get or use the harmonious ding
Not able to be a physician for the country’s heart-mind.
I also do not have opportunist skills
My fields and gardens within the Han River shade.
Because of you leaving for your hometown
We both will chant of our decline in wealth and power.
Notes:
Old bamboo forest: A literary allusion to the “Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove”. Near the beginning of the Jin Dynasty (265 AD), a group of poets and intellectuals gathered in the countryside to write Daoist poems, drink wine, and live a life of retirement away from palace and political misdeeds.
Ding: An ancient cooking vessel often with two loop handles and four legs. Sometimes used as a metaphor for the imperial throne.
Han River: Largest tributary to the Changjiang (Yangzi River).