Bai Juyi: Feelings For the Past Poetry Scrolls

Feelings For the Past Poetry Scrolls

感 旧 诗 卷

夜 深 吟 罢 一 长 吁
老 泪 灯 前 湿 白 须。
二 十 年 前 旧 诗 卷
十 人 酬 和 九 人 无。

Gan Jiu Shi Juan

Ye shen yin ba yi chang xu
Lao lei deng qian shi bai xu.
Er shi nian qian jiu shi juan
Shi ren chou he jiu ren wu.

Feelings For the Past Poetry Scrolls

Deep into the evening, stop poem chanting with one long sigh
Before a lantern, old tears moisten my white beard.
Read these poetry scrolls of times twenty years in the past
Of the ten people contributing their poems, only one has survived.

Notes:

Written in 833 AD.  His best friend Yuan Zhi had died this year.