Clouds drifting the whole day;
a traveler traveling who never arrives.
Three nights you have been in my dreams;
as your friend, I knew your mind.
You say your return is always harrowing;
your coming, a hard coming;
Rivers, lakes, so many waves;
in your boat you fear overturning.
Going out the door, you scratch your white head
as if the purpose of your whole life was ruined,
The rich and high positioned fill the Capital,
while you, alone, are careworn and dejected.
Who says the net of heaven is cast wide?
Growing older, you only grow more preyed upon.
One thousand autumns, ten thousand years of fame,
are nothing after death.
Li Bai & Du Fu.. China's two favourite poets.. Both were born 1,300 years ago, at the beginning of the 8th Century.. and their poetry themes are still relevant today - from friendship, love and landscape to the stench of political corruption..
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Both of them, Li Bai & Du Fu, were quite drunkards... and writing some of their best poetry apparently, while completely inebriated...