Saturday, June 09, 2018
My True Nature
The Selected Poems of Du Fu. Translated by Burton Watson (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002), p. 94 (title "On the Spur of the Moment"):
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River slopes, already midmonth of spring;The Poetry of Du Fu. Edited and Translated by Stephen Owen, Vol. 3 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2016), p. 3:
under the blossoms, bright mornings again.
I look up, eager to watch the birds;
turn my head, answering what I took for a call.
Reading books, I skip the hard parts;
faced with wine, I keep my cup filled.
These days I've gotten to know the old man of Emei.1
He understand this idleness that is my true nature.
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1. Emei is a famous mountain southwest of Chengdu.
On the river floodplain it is already mid-spring,
under the flowers once again a clear morning.
I raise my face, avid to watch the birds,
I turn my head, mistakenly to answer someone.
When I read, I pass over the hard words,
with ale before me, full pots are frequent.
Recently I've gotten to know an old fellow from Emei,
he understands that my indolence is my true nature.
