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Ascending to Leyou Plain, Li Shangyin (Tang Shi #248)
Wednesday, 12 June 2019 08:29Early evening, out of sorts,
I drive my cart up the old plain.
The setting sun seems limitless
As everything approaches dusk.
登乐游原
向晚意不适，
驱车登古原。
夕阳无限好，
只是近黄昏。
Leyou was the site of an imperial retreat built by the Han Emperor Xuan on an upland southeast of Chang’an, which nine centuries later was a) inside the city walls and b) just mounds. This isn’t the only poem about visiting it in the collection.
I’m fond of the multiple terms for growing night. I don’t feel I’ve done a good job conveying the resonances here, including the implied “we too shall pass” overtone, and I’m not sure “plain” is the best way to understand 原 here.
—L.
I drive my cart up the old plain.
The setting sun seems limitless
As everything approaches dusk.
登乐游原
向晚意不适，
驱车登古原。
夕阳无限好，
只是近黄昏。
Leyou was the site of an imperial retreat built by the Han Emperor Xuan on an upland southeast of Chang’an, which nine centuries later was a) inside the city walls and b) just mounds. This isn’t the only poem about visiting it in the collection.
I’m fond of the multiple terms for growing night. I don’t feel I’ve done a good job conveying the resonances here, including the implied “we too shall pass” overtone, and I’m not sure “plain” is the best way to understand 原 here.
—L.