On Yueyang Tower
Du Fu
Du Fu
登岳陽樓
昔聞洞庭水
今上岳陽樓
吳楚東南坼
乾坤日夜浮
親朋無一字
老病有孤舟
戎馬關山北
憑軒涕泗流
昔聞洞庭水
今上岳陽樓
吳楚東南坼
乾坤日夜浮
親朋無一字
老病有孤舟
戎馬關山北
憑軒涕泗流
Dēng Yuèyáng Lóu
Xi wén Dòngtíng shui
Jin shàng Yuèyáng lóu
Wú Chu dong nán chè
Qián kun rì yè fú
Qin péng wú yí zì
Lao bìng you gu zhou
Róng ma guan shan bei
Píng xuan tì sì liú
Xi wén Dòngtíng shui
Jin shàng Yuèyáng lóu
Wú Chu dong nán chè
Qián kun rì yè fú
Qin péng wú yí zì
Lao bìng you gu zhou
Róng ma guan shan bei
Píng xuan tì sì liú
Former hear Dongting water
Now climb Yueyang tower
Wu Chu east south separate
Heaven earth day night float
Family friend without one word
Old sick have single boat
War horse pass mountain north
Lean rail tears flow
Now climb Yueyang tower
Wu Chu east south separate
Heaven earth day night float
Family friend without one word
Old sick have single boat
War horse pass mountain north
Lean rail tears flow
Of old I heard of the waters of Dongting lake,
Now I've climbed to the top of Yueyang tower.
Here Wu and Chu are split to east and south,
Here heaven and earth are floating day and night.
From family and friends comes not a single word,
Old and sick, I have one solitary boat.
War horses are riding north of the mountain pass,
I lean on the railing as tears flow down.
Now I've climbed to the top of Yueyang tower.
Here Wu and Chu are split to east and south,
Here heaven and earth are floating day and night.
From family and friends comes not a single word,
Old and sick, I have one solitary boat.
War horses are riding north of the mountain pass,
I lean on the railing as tears flow down.
View Chinese text in simplified characters.
Notes: The poem dates from 768 (Watson p. 158). Yueyang (Yuezhou) is a town on the shores of Dongting lake; Wu and Chu were two kingdoms of ancient China (Watson p. 158). The area north of the pass was the capital district, then under threat from a Tibetan invasion (Hawkes p. 209).
This poem is volume (juàn) 233, no. 4 in the Complete Tang Poems (quán táng shī). It is translated as poem 34 in Hawkes, pp. 206-9, poem 132 in Watson, p. 158, poem CCCL in Hung, p. 262, and on p. 109 of Hinton.
Hawkes, D. (1967) A Little Primer of Tu Fu. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
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.
Watson, B. (2002) The Selected Poems of Du Fu. New York, Columbia University Press.
Notes: The poem dates from 768 (Watson p. 158). Yueyang (Yuezhou) is a town on the shores of Dongting lake; Wu and Chu were two kingdoms of ancient China (Watson p. 158). The area north of the pass was the capital district, then under threat from a Tibetan invasion (Hawkes p. 209).
This poem is volume (juàn) 233, no. 4 in the Complete Tang Poems (quán táng shī). It is translated as poem 34 in Hawkes, pp. 206-9, poem 132 in Watson, p. 158, poem CCCL in Hung, p. 262, and on p. 109 of Hinton.
Hawkes, D. (1967) A Little Primer of Tu Fu. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
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.
Watson, B. (2002) The Selected Poems of Du Fu. New York, Columbia University Press.