韋諷錄事宅觀曹將軍畫馬圖 杜甫

韋諷錄事宅觀曹將軍畫馬圖     杜甫(712-770)
國初已來畫鞍馬，神妙獨數江都王。
將軍得名三十載，人間又見真乘黃。
曾貌先帝照夜白，龍池十日飛霹靂。
內府殷紅瑪瑙盤，婕妤傳詔才人索。
盤賜將軍拜舞歸，輕紈細綺相追飛。
貴戚權門得筆跡，始覺屏障生光輝。
昔日太宗拳毛騧，近時郭家獅子花。
今之新圖有二馬，復令識者久嘆嗟。
此皆騎戰一敵萬，縞素漠漠開風沙。
其餘七匹亦殊絕，迥若寒空動煙雪。
霜蹄蹴踏長揪間，馬官廝養森成列。
可憐九馬爭神駿，顧視清高氣深穩。
借問苦心愛者誰，後有韋諷前支遁。
憶昔巡幸新豐宮，翠華拂天來向東。
騰驤磊落三萬匹，皆與此圖筋骨同。
自從獻寶朝河宗，無復射蛟江水中。
君不見金粟堆前松柏裏，龍媒去盡鳥呼風。

On Seeing a Horse Painting by Cao Ba in the 

House of Recorder Wei Feng

Du Fu (712-770)

Painters of saddle-horses who have won acclaim since this dynasty’s inaugural,

The Prince of Jiangdu was the only one long acclaimed as ingeniously original,

Through thirty years of acclaim comes this renowned general,

The legendary horse Sheng Huang of old once again emerges in this world,

Once he painted our late emperor’s horse the Night Glow,

For ten days over the Dragon Pool thunders rolled,

A dish of dark red agate in the inner Treasury,

Ladies-in-waiting and maids of honour were ordered to get hold,

The dish bestowed after performing his dance of obedience returned our general,

Soon a rain of silks and satins from the most powerful imperial kinfolks kept chasing after the general,

They felt their screens would be lackluster unless graced by the general’s samples,

Great horses of the past Tai Zhong’s famous horse Curly,

And more recently Guo Ziyi’s grey horse Lion Dapple,

They have both been painted by our general,

Connoisseurs who’ve seen them utter long cries of marvel,

They are both war horses ten thousands others’ equal,

The white silk ground behind them spreads into an expansively expanse of windblown sand sprawl,

The other seven horses in the painting are all singularly original,

Far up above them, a chilly sky is laden with a mingle of snow and sunset glow,

On rolls of tall catalpa trees their frosty hooves paw and trample,

By their sides stable boys and grooms stand in rows and files,

Vying with each other their divine elan vital,

These nine distinguished horses gaze aloft with a deep rooted spirit of formidable mettle,

Who have been the lovers of the these horses most devoted,

Wei Feng in recent times and Zhi Bai in times of old,

The Majesty’s progress to the Xinfeng Palace I recall,

His emerald banner brushed the heavens as eastward the journey ensued,

Thirty thousand horses to the east throng in undulating files,

In sinews and bones they were on par with the horses in this portrayal,

Since the state visit to the River Lord and the offering of precious jade jewels,

No more shooting of dragons again in the waters did ever befall,

Can you not see since the Dragon’s Messengers departed from amidst the pines and cypresses in front of the Hill of the Grain of Gold,

Only birds are left on the wind to warble.