Winding River (2)
Du Fu
Du Fu
曲江二首 (二)
朝回日日典春衣
每日江头尽醉归
酒债寻常行处有
人生七十古来稀
穿花蛱蝶深深见
点水蜻蜓款款飞
传语风光共流转
暂时相赏莫相违
朝回日日典春衣
每日江头尽醉归
酒债寻常行处有
人生七十古来稀
穿花蛱蝶深深见
点水蜻蜓款款飞
传语风光共流转
暂时相赏莫相违
qū jiāng èr shǒu (èr)
cháo huí rì rì diǎn chūn yī
měi rì jiāng tóu jìn zuì guī
jiǔ zhài xún cháng xíng chù yǒu
rén shēng qī shí gǔ lái xī
chuān huā jiá dié shēn shēn jiàn
diǎn shuǐ qīng tíng kuǎn kuǎn fēi
chuán yǔ fēng guāng gòng liú zhuǎn
zàn shí xiāng shǎng mò xiāng wéi
cháo huí rì rì diǎn chūn yī
měi rì jiāng tóu jìn zuì guī
jiǔ zhài xún cháng xíng chù yǒu
rén shēng qī shí gǔ lái xī
chuān huā jiá dié shēn shēn jiàn
diǎn shuǐ qīng tíng kuǎn kuǎn fēi
chuán yǔ fēng guāng gòng liú zhuǎn
zàn shí xiāng shǎng mò xiāng wéi
Court return every day pawn spring clothes
Every day river area utmost drunk return
Wine debt common go place have
Life seventy always rare
Through flowers vanessa butterfly deep deep see
Drop water dragonfly leisurely fly
Pass on speech time all be on move
Brief time mutual recognise not mutual separate
Every day river area utmost drunk return
Wine debt common go place have
Life seventy always rare
Through flowers vanessa butterfly deep deep see
Drop water dragonfly leisurely fly
Pass on speech time all be on move
Brief time mutual recognise not mutual separate
I come back from the court each day and pawn some spring clothing,
Every day I return to the river as drunk as I can be.
I have many debts for wine all over the place,
For men to live to seventy has always been unusual.
I see the butterflies go deeper and deeper between the flowers,
And dragonflies in leisured flight between drops of water.
As we're told, passing time is always on the move,
So little time to know each other: we should not be apart.
Every day I return to the river as drunk as I can be.
I have many debts for wine all over the place,
For men to live to seventy has always been unusual.
I see the butterflies go deeper and deeper between the flowers,
And dragonflies in leisured flight between drops of water.
As we're told, passing time is always on the move,
So little time to know each other: we should not be apart.
View Chinese text in traditional characters.
Other Chinese poems about Nature, Spring and Age.
Note: This poem probably dates from around 758, after the government had recaptured Chang'an (Owen p. 424).
This poem is volume (juàn) 225, no. 16 in the Complete Tang Poems (quán táng shī). It is translated as poem CIV in Hung, p.129, and on p. 34 of Hinton.
Hinton, D. (1990) The Selected Poems of Tu Fu. London, Anvil Press Poetry.
Hung, W. (1952) Tu Fu: China's Greatest Poet. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press.
Owen, S. (1996) An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911. New York/London, W. W. Norton.
