This poem came to
me suddenly when I remembered an earlier poem of mine, also a dialog
between white clouds and the
green mountain.
On a deeper level, this is an imaginary dialog between the
clouds and the traveller is about experienced advice to the nescient youth.
1.上有白雲下有我 There are white clouds above and I below,
2.今日相逢同路過 Today we met on the same road.
3.問余海角天涯至 Asking thee, “To which ends of the earth thouest
going?”
4.此刻遮頭到山坡 And I sayeth, “This moment to the mountain slope
shading thee.”
5.緣盡辭別各人志 And when our kismet ends, each to his own road
of ambition,
6.登峰觀世是一賀 Ascending to the mountain top for a world view is worthy of praise.
7.勤學得進桂堂入 Study diligently and make something of thyself,
8.披彩騰飛参嫦娥 And as for me, clad in radiance flying to see
the Moon Goddess.
1.
The stations of the experienced and the nescient
is evident.
3.
Youth is awed by the experience of the aged; The
aged is mesmerized by the innocence of youth.
4.
Under the protection of the higher ups.
6.
To reach the pinnacle of success
7.
Here 進 does not mean “to enter” but to
become the Number One Scholar 進士. There are three meanings of 桂堂,Osmanthus Hall and all
of them are apt to the poem:
a. Hall
made from Osmanthus wood, a magnificent hall of the rich and powerful
b. The
Lunar Palace. This will tie in with the last line.
c. Family
of the Number One Scholar
8.
All the successful needed is to don their finery
and go dallying with the moon in form of colored clouds. This can also be advice offered.
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
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