Du Fu: Feng Huang Tower: Poem No. 1

Feng Huang Tower: Poem No. 1

凤 凰 台

亭 亭 凤 凰 台
北 对 西 康 州。
西 伯 今 寂 寞
凤 声 亦 悠 悠。

山 峻 路 绝 踪
石 林 气 高 浮。
安 得 万 丈 梯
为 君 上 上 头。

恐 有 无 母 雏
饥 寒 日 啾 啾。
我 能 剖 心 血
饮 啄 慰 孤 愁。

心 以 当 竹 实
炯 然 无 外 求。
血 以 当 醴 泉
岂 徒 比 清 流。

所 重 王 者 瑞
敢 辞 微 命 休？
坐 看 彩 翮 长
举 意 八 极 周。

自 天 衔 瑞 图
飞 下 十 二 楼。
图 以 奉 至 尊
凤 以 垂 鸿 猷。

再 光 中 兴 业
一 洗 苍 生 忧。
深 衷 正 为 此
群 盗 何 淹 留？

Feng Huang Tai

(1)

Ting ting feng huang tai
Bei dui xi kang zhou
Xi bo jin ji mo
Feng sheng yi you you.

Shan jun lu jue zong
Shi lin qi gao fu.
An de wan zhang ti
Wei jun shang shang tou.

Kong you wu mu chu
Ji han ri jiu jiu.
Wo neng pou xin xue
Yin zhuo wei gu chou.

Xin yi dang zhu shi
Jiong ran wu wai qiu.
Xue yi dang li quan
Qi tu bi qing liu.

Suo chong wang zhe rui
Gan ci wei ming xiu?
Zuo kan cai he chang
Ju yi ba ji zhou.

Zi tian xian rui tu
Fei xia shi er lou
Tu yi feng zhi zun
Feng yi chui hong you.

Zai guang zhong xing ye
Yi xi cang sheng you.
Shen zhong zheng wei ci
Qun dao he yan liu?

Feng Huang Tower: Poem No. 1

Very tall Feng Huang Tower
Facing to the north to see Xi Kangzhou.
Zhou Huangwang now quiet and lonely
Phoenix sounds remote and leisurely.

Mountains steep and high, highway with unique tracks and footprints
Rocks and the forest air floating high overhead.
This tranquility needs a ten thousand step ladder
Would enable one to reach the best peaks.

I am afraid the young birds are without a mother
Everyday hungry and cold, they cry out “ Jiu, jiu.”
They would not eat my blood or heart
But I would let them peck and drink from me to comfort their isolation
and worries.

My heart-mind can match the solid bamboo seeds they are used to eating
Do this with joy and without expecting something in return.
My blood could be their sweet spring waters
And comparatively more clean and pure.

This way their adulthood will be auspicious
To make them bold and end their declining fate?
Sit and look at their long and colorful feathers
Expect them to soar and circle the whole country.

Naturally heaven would grant them their auspicious scheme
To fly below the twelve buildings of Huangdi.
This scheme we share with our emperor
Phoenixes can approach, swans design the plan.

Again to honor our resurgent undertakings
Wash away the common people’s concerns.
Honestly my deep and innermost feelings can help create this
How can the crowds of thieves remain?

Notes:

Zhou Huangwang:  (1105-1046 BC) (r. 1075-1046 BC): Last king of the Zhou Dynasty, who lost the dynasty from decadent expenditures, corruption and the allures of palace women.

Jiu-jiu: An onomatopoeia (words that mimic natural sounds) that sound like the cries of birds.

Huangdi: The Yellow Emperor