Thursday, April 14, 2016

Proud-pied April: Sleeping Dragon and Leaping Horse

Okay, even though a little Tang poetry goes a long way, once a year is manageable. And I’ll revisit Du Fu, the writer who had intended to be a courtier and administrator, but ended up giving us some spectacular word images.

For example, “Night in the Pavilion”, where in the pre-dawn hour the Milky Way is waning, and two heroes come to naught. A lot of Du Fu’s poems evoke the elements of awaiting news of fighting at varying distances; a mark of the times, I guess.

“Night in the Pavilion”

At year’s end, yin and yang hurry the shortened day,
At sky’s end, frost and snow clear the frozen night.
Fifth watch: the drum and horn sound out mournful and strong,
Three gorges: the river of stars casts its trembling shadow.
Countryside cries from a thousand homes hearing news of the fighting.
Barbaric songs here and there rise from fishers and woodsmen.
Sleeping Dragon and Leaping Horse both ended in yellow dirt;
Waiting for news of worldly affairs brings me useless grief.






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