Little Primer of Du Fu, Poems 11-15

[x_los]

This is week 3/7 on David Hawkes' Little Primer of Du Fu. I'll replicate the poems themselves here, but as this book contains considerable exegesis I advise you to grab this copy.

 

This week we're reading poems 11 through 15, inclusive.

 

How to Read Chinese Poetry has two chapters on forms Du Fu uses extensively:

 

Ch 8, Recent Style Shi Poetry, Pentasyllabic Regulated Verse (Wuyan Lüshi) 

Ch 9, Recent Style Shi Poetry, Heptasyllabic Regulated Verse (Qiyan Lüshi) 

 

Three other chapters on other verse forms that Du Fu sometimes employs, or which people quoting Du Fu employ, also mention him:

 

Ch 10,  Recent Style Shi Poetry, Quatrains (Jueju): some mention of Du Fu’s “Three Quatrains, No. 3”

Ch 14, Ci Poetry,  Long Song Lyrics on Objects (Yongwu Ci): some mention of Du Fu's “Beautiful Lady” (Jiaren)

Ch 18, A Synthesis:  Rhythm, Syntax, and Vision of Chinese Poetry: some mention of Du Fu’s poem “The Jiang and Han Rivers” 

 

Additional Reading for this Week: Chapter 8

Comments

15. 天末懷李白 Tiān-mò huái Lǐ Bái

[x_los]

天末懷李白
Tiān-mò huái Lǐ Bái

涼 風 起 天 末
1. Liáng-fēng qǐ tiān-mò,
君 子 意 如 何
2. Jūn-zǐ yì rú-hé?
鴻 雁 幾 時 到
3. Hóng-yàn jǐ-shí dào?
江 湖 秋 水 多
4. Jiāng-hú qiū-shuǐ duō!
文 章 憎 命 達
5. Wén-zhāng zèng mìng-dá,
魑 魅 喜 人 過
6. Chī-mèi xǐ rén guò.
應 共 寃 魂 語
7. Yīng gòng yuān-hún yǔ,
投 詩 贈 汨 羅
8. Tóu shī zèng Mì-luó.

Read aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLQOUs4Kt08

Thoughts of Li Po from the World’s End

Here at the world’s end the cold winds are beginning to blow. What message have you for me, my master? When will the poor wandering goose arrive? The rivers and lakes are swollen with autumn’s waters. Art detests a too successful life; and the hungry goblins await you with welcoming jaws. You had better have a word with the ghost of that other wronged poet. Drop some verses into the Mi-lo as an offering to him!

Re: 15. 天末懷李白 Tiān-mò huái Lǐ Bái

[x_los]

“Chī-mèi are goblins who lurk in the hills and devour the unwary traveller.” Nice for fic

“The ‘wronged ghost’ is the spirit of the fourth-century B.C. poet Ch’ü Yüan, who was banished by the king of Ch’u as a result of false allegations made against him by his enemies and finally drowned himself in the river Mi-lo.” Is this dragon boat boy?

Re: 15. 天末懷李白 Tiān-mò huái Lǐ Bái

[superborb]

Yeah, Qu Yuan is dragon boat guy. Easier to google in pinyin, smh Hawkes

Re: 15. 天末懷李白 Tiān-mò huái Lǐ Bái

[superborb]

Baike does NOT think those goblins are literal goblins -- the gloss is villains or evil criminals. Also I think this word must be archaic, as Baike gives pinyin and defines it as hobgoblin.