Little Primer of Du Fu, Poems 21-25
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This week we're reading poems 21 through 25, 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 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 10
25. 古柏行 Gǔ bǎi xíng
Gǔ bǎi xíng
孔 明 廟 前 有 老 柏
1. Kǒng-míng miào-qián yǒu lǎo bǎi,
柯 如 青 銅 根 如 石
2. Kē rú qīng-tóng gēn rú shí.
霜 皮 溜 雨 四 十 圍
3. Shuāng pí liù yǔ sì-shí wéi,
黛 色 參 天 二 千 尺
4. Dài sè cān tiān èr-qiān chǐ.
君 臣 已 與 時 際 會
5. Jūn-chén yǐ yǔ shí jì-huì,
樹 木 猶 為 人 愛 惜
6. Shù-mù yóu wéi rén ài-xī.
雲 來 氣 接 巫 峽 長
7. Yún lái qì jiē Wū-xiá cháng,
月 出 寒 通 雪 山 白
8. Yuè chū hán tōng Xuě-shān bái.
憶 昨 路 繞 錦 亭 東
9. Yì zuó lù rào Jǐn-tíng dōng,
先 主 武 侯 同 閟 宮
10. Xiān-zhǔ Wǔ-hóu tóng bì-gōng.
崔 嵬 枝 幹 郊 原 古
11. Cuī-wéi zhī-gàn jiāo-yuán gǔ,
窈 窕 丹 青 戶 牖 空
12. Yǎo-tiǎo dān-qīng hù-yǒu kōng.
落 落 盤 據 雖 得 地
13. Luò-luò pán-jù suī dé-dì,
冥 冥 孤 高 多 烈 風
14. Míng-míng gū-gāo duō liè-fēng.
扶 持 自 是 神 明 力
15. Fú-chí zì shì shén-míng lì,
正 直 元 因 造 化 工
16. Zhèng-zhí yuán yīn zào-huà gōng.
大 厦 如 傾 要 梁 棟
17. Dà shà rú qīng yào liáng-dòng,
萬 牛 迴 首 邱 山 重
18. Wàn niú huí shǒu qiū-shān zhòng.
不 露 文 章 世 已 驚
19. Bú lù wén-zhāng shì yǐ jīng,
未 辭 剪 伐 誰 能 送
20. Wèi cí jiǎn-fá shuí néng sòng?
苦 心 豈 免 容 螻 蟻
21. Kǔ xīn qǐ miǎn róng lóu-yǐ,
香 葉 終 經 宿 鸞 鳳
22. Xiāng yè zhōng jīng sù luán-fèng.
志 士 幽 人 莫 怨 嗟
23. Zhì-shì yōu-rén mò yuàn-jiē:
古 來 材 大 難 為 用
24. Gǔ-lái cái dà nán wéi yòng.
Read Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prqZkoAnIgo
Ballad of the Old Cypress
In front of the temple of Chu-ko Liang there is an old cypress. Its branches are like green bronze; its roots like rocks. Around its great girth of forty spans its rimy bark withstands the washing of the rain. Its jet-coloured top rises two thousand feet to greet the sky. Prince and statesman have long since paid their debt to time; but the tree continues to be cherished among men. When the clouds come, continuous vapours link it with the mists of the long Wu Gorge; and when the moon appears, the cypress tree shares the chill of the Snowy Mountains’ whiteness.
I remember a year or so ago, where the road wound east round my Brocade River pavilion, the First Ruler and Chu-ko Liang shared the same shrine. There, too, were towering cypresses, on the ancient plain outside the city. The paintwork of the temple’s dark interior gleamed dully through derelict doors and windows. But this cypress here, though it holds its ground well, clinging with wide-encompassing, snake-like hold, yet, because of its lonely height rising into the gloom of the sky, meets much of the wind’s fierce blast. Nothing but the power of Divine Providence could have kept it standing for so long; its straightness must be the work of the Creator himself! If a great hall had collapsed and beams for it were needed, ten thousand oxen might turn their heads inquiringly to look at such a mountain of a load. But it is already marvel enough to astonish the world, without any need to undergo a craftsman’s embellishing. It has never refused the axe: there is simply no one who could carry it away if it were felled. Its bitter heart has not escaped the ants; but there are always phoenixes roosting in its scented leaves. Men of ambition, and you who dwell unseen, do not cry out in despair! From of old the really great has never been found a use for.
Re: 25. 古柏行 Gǔ bǎi xíng
“Frosty bark’ is of course metaphorical” how so? (Rimy is covered in frost) Maybe he’s trying to talk about how the ridged bark of a cyprus looks
“the bitter core of the cypress wood” ?
“Tu Fu’s very first childish attempt at verse was a little poem about a phoenix” how do we know, did someone ask his mom??
I like the end
Re: 25. 古柏行 Gǔ bǎi xíng
From Baike:
Yes, the swapping of lines 5+6 with 7+8 was suggested by Song era Liu Xuxi. Qiu Zhao'ao follows this by inverting these four lines too. Huang Shen dismissed this as a child's opinion.
Hah, your thinking aligns with Baike. The gloss for the frosty bark is 'pale ash gray colored' and the rainy bit is 'glossy/smooth'.
Baike says that the core of the cypress is bitter tasting. But also it's to contrast with the fragrant leaves, to show the feeling of life experience.
Re: 25. 古柏行 Gǔ bǎi xíng