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A cold wind rises at the sky’s end.
True gentleman, what do you think?
When will the swans and geese arrive,
And autumn flood the lakes and rivers?
We hate when written words reach us—
Demons enjoy when men pass by.
Share words with that resentful ghost,
Throw poems to him in Miluo River.
天末怀李白
凉风起天末，
君子意如何。
鸿雁几时到，
江湖秋水多。
文章憎命达，
魑魅喜人过。
应共冤魂语，
投诗赠汨罗。
Written in 759 when Li Bai had been exiled to Lake Dongting, Hunan, addressing him not just as “gentleman” but as junzi, the epitome of a scholar-gentleman extolled by Confucius. Wild geese (and sometimes swans as well) are associated with letters from afar, here anticipating a recall—a hope denied with the written words two lines later. 魑 (chi) and 魅 (mei) are two types of hostile mountain demons/spirits, who enjoy visitors because they can eat them; they are often read as representing small-minded people who delight in the downfall of their betters. The resentful ghost is Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the Miluo River (which flows into Dongting) after his reputation with his king had been trashed by slander (a death commemorated in the Dragon Boat Festival).
---L.
True gentleman, what do you think?
When will the swans and geese arrive,
And autumn flood the lakes and rivers?
We hate when written words reach us—
Demons enjoy when men pass by.
Share words with that resentful ghost,
Throw poems to him in Miluo River.
天末怀李白
凉风起天末，
君子意如何。
鸿雁几时到，
江湖秋水多。
文章憎命达，
魑魅喜人过。
应共冤魂语，
投诗赠汨罗。
Written in 759 when Li Bai had been exiled to Lake Dongting, Hunan, addressing him not just as “gentleman” but as junzi, the epitome of a scholar-gentleman extolled by Confucius. Wild geese (and sometimes swans as well) are associated with letters from afar, here anticipating a recall—a hope denied with the written words two lines later. 魑 (chi) and 魅 (mei) are two types of hostile mountain demons/spirits, who enjoy visitors because they can eat them; they are often read as representing small-minded people who delight in the downfall of their betters. The resentful ghost is Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the Miluo River (which flows into Dongting) after his reputation with his king had been trashed by slander (a death commemorated in the Dragon Boat Festival).
---L.