觀公孫大娘弟子舞劍器行·并序 杜甫

觀公孫大娘弟子舞劍器行·并序     杜甫(712-770)
大歷二年十月十九日，夔府別駕元持宅，見臨潁李十二娘舞劍器，壯其蔚跂，問其所師，曰：“余公孫大娘弟子也。” 開元三載，余尚童稚，記于郾城觀公孫氏舞劍器渾脫，瀏灕頓挫，獨出冠時，自高頭宜春梨園二伎坊內人洎外供奉，曉是舞者，聖文神武皇帝初，公孫一人而已。玉貌錦衣，況余白首，今茲弟子，亦非盛顏。既辨其由來，知波瀾莫二，撫事慷慨，聊為《劍器行》。昔者吳人張旭，善草書書帖，數常于鄴縣見公孫大娘舞西河劍器，自此草書長進，豪蕩感激，即公孫可知矣。

昔有佳人公孫氏，一舞劍器動四方。
觀者如山色沮喪，天地為之久低昂。
霍如羿射九日落，矯如群帝驂龍翔。
來如雷霆收震怒，罷如江海凝清光。
絳唇珠袖兩寂寞，晚有弟子傳芬芳。
臨潁美人在白帝，妙舞此曲神揚揚。
與余問答既有以，感時撫事增惋傷。
先帝侍女八千人，公孫劍器初第一。
五十年間似反掌，風塵澒洞昏王室。
梨園子弟散如煙，女樂餘姿映寒日。
金粟堆前木已拱，瞿塘石城草蕭瑟。
玳筵急管曲復終，樂極哀來月東出。
老夫不知其所往，足繭荒山轉愁疾。

On Seeing a Pupil of Madam Gongsun Performing 

the Dance Jian Qi – A Ballad

Du Fu (712-770)

On the nineteenth day of the tenth month of the second year of Dai Li in the house of Yuan Chi, Deputy Governor of Kui Prefecture, I saw Li the Twelfth Madam of Lin Ying perform the dance Jian Qi. Amazed by the brilliance and verve of her art, I asked from whom she learned it. I was a pupil of Madam Gongsun she replied.

I recall in the third year of Kai Yuan when I was still a little boy seeing Gongsun perform the Jian Qi dance and the Hun Tuo at Yan City. For consummation of techniques and the mettle, audacity and versatility of the strokes she was unequalled in her day. From the royal command performers and the insiders of the Spring Garden and Pear Garden in the Palace down to official call dancers outside, there was no one during the early years of His Sagely Peaceful and Divinely Martial Majesty who understood this dance as she did. Where now is that lovely figure in its magnificent costume? Now I’m already a hoar haired old man and this pupil of hers is well past her prime.

Having found out the pupil’s credentials, I now realized that what I had been watching was an original reproduction of the great dancer’s version of the dance. Mulling over my reminiscence I felt urged to write a ballad on the Jian Qi Dance.

Years ago, Zhang Xu the great master of cursive hand calligraphy, having seen Gongsun perform the Hexi Jian Qi several times at Ye City discovered afterwards, to his great gratitude, that his calligraphy has greatly improved. This should be able to shed some light on how great a dancer Gongsun was.

There was a fair lady surnamed Gongsun not too long ago,

Whenever she performed the Jian Qi dance she attracted spectators from all quarters to exalt,

Spectators as numerous as the hills were all awesomely appalled,

Even long after she finished her dancing the whole earth seemed all stumbled in a tumble,

Her dazzling swoop was like the nine suns by the legendary archer Yi’s arrows felled,

As vivacious as the gods riding their dragons across the heavens was her elan vital,

Her advances like thunder amassing its bellow,

Her pauses like river and seas frozen in hyaline gelid glow,

Her crimson lips and pearl adorned sleeves are now reposed,

But in her late years there was a pupil who inherited her art’s ambrosial vital verve,

Now this fair lady from Linying performing her art in the City of Bai Di on thrilled mettle,

Her answers to my questions revealed my admiration for her were reasonably rational,

Mulling over my reflections I am thrilled by angst and dismals,

In His Majesty’s service there were eight thousand women to avail,

Gongsun was from the outset the first to perform the dance Jian Qi before His Regal,

Fifty years have now gone by like the hand’s wiggle,

In these fifty years the royal house was plagued and darkened by treacherous upheavals,

Pupils of the Pear Garden have vanished like hazy mizzles,

On the fading glamour of this lady the chilly wintry sun glows,

South of the Hill of the Grain of Gold trees flanking the road to the Imperial Tomb have grown tall enough for their branches to have an arch to hold,

South of the Hill of the Grain of Gold the trees flanking the road to the Imperial Tomb have grown tall enough for their branches to have an arch to hold,

On the rocky wall of Qutang the dead grasses shrivel and whittle,

In the grand feast the shrill flutes once again come to their finale,

When pleasure is climaxed and sorrows follow the moon in the east again shows,

This gaffer knows not where to go,

Over the desolate mountains his calloused feet feed with more and more angst and dismals as further and further he goes.

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.

白帝城最高樓 杜甫

白帝城最高樓    杜甫(712-770)

城尖徑昃旌旆愁，獨立縹緲之飛樓。

峽坼雲霾龍虎臥，江清日抱黿鼉遊。

扶桑西枝對斷石，弱水東影隨長流。
杖藜嘆世者誰子，泣血迸空回白頭。

The Tallest Tower in Bai Di City       Du Fu (712-770)

Tall tall rises the tower and tortuously winding is the trail,

On it banners gloomily and sulkily unfurl,

It is an independent diaphanously veiled flying tower that in the sky dangles,

Anon the gulf seems to crack and brumous clouds and frosty haze veils under which oddish rocks like obscure dragons and tigers lie in purdu in the torrential flux swell,

Presently as the sun resumes its shiny glow the river waters turn limpid again and tortoises are seen playing and swimming between the rocks of the shoal,

Espying from here you seem to be able to see the boughs of the heavenly tree at the east from where up the sun goes via-vis the gulf,

The mythic river and the Great River always run parallel,

Whosoever is this gaffer on a cane who so deploringly waisl for the world,

This hoar hair old man could only inanely shed his bloody tears to the heavens and recoil.

白帝 杜甫

白帝    杜甫(712-770)

白帝城中雲出門，白帝城下雨翻盆。

高江急峽雷霆斗，古木蒼藤日月昏。

戎馬不如歸馬逸，千家今有百家存。

哀哀寡婦誅求盡，慟哭秋原何處村？

The Bai Di City      Du Fu (712-770)

From the Bai Di city wall cloud waves roll,

Beneath the city bitter rain pours,

Spates of deluge rage amidst torrential flux and thunderous bolts,

Under the gloomy heavens ancient rattans have lost their usual glow,

In the wild a veteran horse leisurely lolls,

There used to be thousands of households now only a few hundreds stay on hold,

Widows being plundered by officials of all their chattels,

Amidst the autumnal harvest their mournful wails have unsettled every corner of the wild.

燕子來舟中作 杜甫

燕子來舟中作       杜甫 (712-770)

湖南爲客動經春，燕子銜泥兩度新。
舊入故園常識主，如今社日遠看人。
可憐處處巢君室，何異飄飄托此身。
暫語船檣還起去，穿花落水益沾巾。

Written On My Boat Being Visited by Swallows      

Du Fu (712-770)

Forlornly drifting in Hunan I have evinced two vernal spells,

For two rounds I’ve seen swallows hold mud to build their nestles,

These swallows should know me as they had graced my garden of old,

On this Harvest Festival from afar they just have me ogled,

You can build your nest anywhere you feel fit in this boundless world,

Just like this forlornly straggling soul at wheresoever I can pull over,

On my boat mast they lull and twitter but immediately off they pull,

Watching them cut capers and shuttle between the flowers stir my tears to pour and soak through my shawl.

賓至 杜甫

賓至     杜甫(712-770)

幽棲地僻經過少，老病人扶再拜難。

豈有文章驚海內，漫勞車馬駐江乾。

竟日淹留佳客坐，百年粗糲腐儒餐。
不嫌野外無供給，乘興還來看藥欄。

My Guests      Du Fu (712-770)

Desolately I live in far flung areas where only very few people would call,

Old and ailing I need help to prop me up making repeated salutes finical,

Neither have I any written works to take everybody stand aghast within our empire’s realm.

You should not have taken all the trouble to travel by horse and carriage to my riverside hovel,

You have graced my shabby hovel by staying with me all day through,

This bromidic pedant could only serve you his usual shaggy meal,

If you don’t mind this food from the wild unpalatable,

Maybe you will take a whim contemplating my herb garden blows.

丹青引贈曹霸將軍 杜甫

丹青引贈曹霸將軍     杜甫(712-770)

將軍魏武之子孫，于今為庶為清門。

英雄割據雖已矣，文彩風流今尚存。
學書初學衛夫人，但恨無過王右軍。
丹青不知老將至，富貴于我如浮雲。
開元之中常引見，承恩數上南薰殿。
凌煙功臣少顏色，將軍下筆開生面。
良相頭上進賢冠，猛將腰間大羽箭。
褒公鄂公毛髮動，英姿颯爽猶酣戰。
先帝玉馬玉花驄，畫工如山貌不同。
是日牽來赤墀下，迥立閶闔生長風。
詔謂將軍拂絹素，意匠慘淡經營中。
斯須九重真龍出，一洗萬古凡馬空。
玉花卻在御榻上，榻上庭前屹相向。
至尊含笑催賜金，圉人太僕皆惆悵。
弟子韓幹早入室，亦能畫馬窮殊相。
幹惟畫肉不畫骨，忍使驊騮氣凋喪。
將軍畫善蓋有神，偶逢佳士亦寫真。
即今漂泊幹戈際，屢貌尋常行路人。
途窮反遭俗眼白，世上未有如公貧。
但看古來盛名下，終日坎壈纏其身。

A Ballad of Painting to General Cao Ba      Du Fu (712-770)

A scion of Emperor Wu of Wei you are, revered general,
Now ranking only to the humble and no longer a noble,

Long gone is the tripartite kingdoms founding hero,

Still prevalent is his éclat cultural,

Learning calligraphy from Madam Wai to start it all,

To your great chagrin you could never manage surpassing Wang Xizhi to excel,

In painting you forget the approach of the age of senile,

Wealth and power to you are all floating clouds and insubstantial,

During the Kai Yuan era you were often summoned before His Imperial,

On His Majesty’s grace you frequented the South Fragrance Hall,

When colours faded in the distinguished statesmen and soldiers in the Celestial Mists Chamber portrayals,

Your brush brings them a new refreshed glow,

On great ministers merit worthy hats are availed,

At the belts of valorous generals you adorn them with big feather arrows,

The Duke of Bao and the Duke of E with their hair bristled,

In heroic and formidable postures they come head in the battles on their mettle,

Our late emperor’s imperial war horse the Jade Blow,

Painters having it painted in the past are numerous but none able to produce a true likeness in their portrayals,

One day it was led out to the Red Terrace of the Court below,

As it stood far off in the gates into the palace came a long gale,

An order was given to you preparing for the painting to have white silk unrolled,

Painstakingly your artistic mind concocts intensively how to get down to buckle,

Presently a true dragon from the empyrean unfolds,

Wiping away in a trice all ordinary horses painted from of old,

Over and behind the throne the portrayal is soon dangled,

With the one in the courtyard facing each other they proudly goggle,

With a smile His Majesty urges gold to be bestowed,

The stable boys and grooms are all blighted in great dismals,

Your disciple Han Gan has long already been promoted to your stratum but still lacks the dexterity of your skills,

He can also exhaust all different sorts of horses with his facile style,

But he can only produce horses with flesh but no bones and hence not vital,

Whence under his brush all coursers lose their elan vital,

General, your ability to paint such horses is celestial,

Usually you will paint other portraits as well,

Only if you meet someone really special,

Now forlorn and drifting in this tumultuous world,

Quite often you also paint the ordinary people,

Struggling in desperate straits you always suffer from looks of despise from spiteful

people,

Surely no one is as poor as you, general, in this acrid world,

All those enjoying great acclaim and fame from of old,

Struggle throughout their lives amidst hardship and fails.

小寒食舟中作 杜甫

小寒食舟中作     杜甫 (712-770)

佳辰強飲食猶寒，隱几蕭條戴鶡冠。

春水船如天上坐，老年花似霧中看。

娟娟戲蝶過閑幔，片片輕鷗下急湍。

雲白山青萬餘里，愁看直北是長安。

Written in My Boat on the Eve of the Cold Meals Festival     

Du Fu (712-770)

Old and ailing I rouse myself to hit the booze to usher in this festival,

Leaning on the teapoy this banished recluse drearily lolls,

Caught at the vernal flood up to the heaven my boat seems to be hurled,

In my dazzled eyes the flowers seem to be diaphanously veiled in the mizzles,

Butterflies cut capers around the rolled up portieres,

Over the raging torrents soar gleeful seagulls,

The verdant mountains and white clouds boundlessly spread thousands miles afield,

I look north to Chang’an with nostalgic glum dismals.

   

野望 杜甫

野望     杜甫 (712-770)

西山白雪三城戍，南浦清江萬里橋。 
海內風塵諸弟隔，天涯涕淚一身遙。 
惟將遲暮供多病，未有涓埃答聖朝。 
跨馬出郊時極目，不堪人事日蕭條。 

Espying Around Over the Wilds        Du Fu (712-770)

On the west mountains the three City walls are heavily guarded by citadels,

Over the Qing River in the southern suburbs the Thousands Miles Bridge straddles,

Due to the tumultuous unrest my brothers are scattered all over the realm,

Forlornly at end of world I deploringly straggle,

I could only entrust my late years to this old and decrepit torso,

Up to now I still have not the least feat or merit to repay My Lord Imperial,

Riding my horse I have a prospect of the wilds afield,

Everyday situations in the country turn more drearily miserable and lamentable.

灩澦堆 杜甫

灩澦堆      杜甫  (712-770)

巨石水中央，江寒出水長。

沉牛答雲雨，如馬戒舟航。
天意存傾覆，神功接混茫。

干戈連解纜，行止憶垂堂。

The Yan Yu Rocky Shoal Pile       Du Fu (712-770)

Amidst the rapid currents stands a giant rock in the middle of the river shoal,

In wintry days when the water is chilly and shallow there will strut the rock colossal,

People dump cows into the river to propitiate the gods for rains heaven bestowed,

This gigantic rock serves as a warning horse for the sailing boats,

Heaven portends the hazard of overturning in every sail,

Providence’s prowess covers boundlessly far afield,

Forlornly drifting everywhere in these years of turmoil,

I really have to watch out for hazards no matter putting up wheresoever or wherever I go.

和裴迪登蜀州東亭送客逢早梅相憶見寄 杜甫

和裴迪登蜀州東亭送客逢早梅相憶見寄    杜甫 (712-770)

東閣官梅動詩興，還如何遜在掦州。
此時對雪遙相憶，送客逢春可自由 ?
幸不折來傷歲暮，若爲看去亂鄉愁。
江邊一樹垂垂發，朝夕催人自白頭。

Echoing Pei Di’s Poem “Running across early plum blossoms while mounting the East Pavilion of Shu to see off a friend”        Du Fu (712-770)

The plum blossoms you came across on the East Pavilion of Shu had your poetic muse enkindled,

Your poem is as graceful as that He Xun wrote in Yangzhou on this fascinating blow,

In face of flying snows old pals one will recall,

Running across plum blossoms on the East Pavilion while seeing a friend off would inevitably remind you of old pals like myself,

Fortunately you did not send a spray of the blow lest my nostalgia be roused,

The plum tree beside the Blossoms Pool of my hovel is gradually coming to blow,

Day in and day out it hustles my hair turn grizzle. 

空囊 杜甫

空囊   杜甫 (712-770)

翠柏苦猶食，明霞高可餐。

世人共鲁莽，吾道屬艱難。

不爨井晨凍，無衣床夜寒。

囊空恐羞涩，留得一錢看。

An Empty Pocket           Du Fu (712-770)

The verdant cypress is bitter yet it can fill empty bowels,

Starving the enchanting glow that hangs highly highly in the sky also seems edible,

Most people are reckless and covet a life easy and comfortable,

Sticking to my principle I’ve chosen a life antipodal and so very difficult,

I can’t cook in the morning as well water is gelid and freezing cold,

At night my thin clothes and bed sheet make sleeping simply impossible,

Ashamed of a pocket hollow,

I always keep a coin to avoid being scoffed.

南征 杜甫

南征    杜甫 (712-770)

春岸桃花水，雲帆楓樹林。
偷生長避地，適遠更沾襟。
老病南征日，君恩北望心。
百年歌自苦，未見有知音。

Going Far South Afield            Du Fu (712-770)

On the banks of the river peach blossoms bloom in the vernal spell,

Over the rolling water I rear my boat’s sail,

Making my way through the boundless maple weald,

Leading an ignominious life all over the places I’ve straggled,

Now going far south I can’t stop my tears pour,

Getting old and ailing I still have to go far south afield,

I should have gone back north to the capital and be on His Majesty’s behoof,

All my flair I’ve wrought in my poems’ concocting throes,

Up till now I still have not met with any applausive approval.