Selected Poems of Du Fu

Burton Watson

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Year: 2003
• eBook ISBN: 9780231502290
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Asian Literary Criticism
• Index: Literature

Du Fu (712–777) has been called China's greatest poet, and some call him the greatest nonepic, nondramatic poet whose writings survive in any language. Du Fu excelled in a great variety of poetic forms, showing a richness of language ranging from elegant to colloquial, from allusive to direct. His impressive breadth of subject matter includes intimate personal detail as well as a great deal of historical information—which earned him the epithet "poet-historian." Some 1,400 of Du Fu's poems survive today, his fame resting on about one hundred that have been widely admired over the centuries. Preeminent translator Burton Watson has selected 127 poems, including those for which Du Fu is best remembered and lesser-known works.

Evening Banquet at Mr. Zuo’s Villa

(5-character regulated verse. The date and location of the poem are uncertain, as is the identity of Mr. Zuo.)

1

Wind-tossed trees, a slim moon setting,

robes dew-damp, the clear tuning of a qin:¹

hidden waters flow by blossomed pathways,

spring stars encircle the thatched hall.

We examine books till the candles burn low,

admire swords, leisurely sipping wine,

then, poems done, listen to songs of Wu—

never will I forget my lone boat travels there!²

1. The qin is a horizontal stringed instrument like a zither or Japanese koto.

2. Du Fu is recalling his youthful wanderings in the region of Wu on the southeast coast. Throughout his poetry, the boat is a powerful symbol of freedom and escape.

Officer Fang’s Barbarian Steed

(5-ch. regulated verse, around 741. Ferghana in Central Asia was renowned for its fine horses.)

2

Barbarian steed, pride of Ferghana,

all jags and angles, well-knit bones;

two ears cocked, like bamboo tubes split sideways;

four hoofs fleet, as though buoyed on the wind.

Wherever headed, no distance too challenging,

fit indeed for a life-or-death charge.

With a mount superlative as this,

ten-thousand-mile sorties are at your command!

The Painted Hawk

(5-ch. regulated verse, probably around 742.)

3

Wind and frost swirl up from the white silk surface,

so superb, this painting of the gray hawk!

Shoulders hunched, he schemes to outwit the wily rabbit;

peers to one side like a vexed barbarian.

Foot cord and ring, a gleam bright enough to grasp;

by pillar and eaves, poised to come if you should call.

When will he swoop down on those lesser birds,

feathers and blood splattered over the barren plain?

On a Spring Day Thinking of Li Bai

(5-ch. regulated verse; written around 746, when Du Fu was in Chang’an near the Wei River and Li Bai was in the region of Wu southeast of the Yangzi.)

4

Li Bai—poems unrivaled,

thought soaring airborne, never banal:

the freshness, newness of Yu the Commander,

the rare excellence of Adjutant Bao.¹

Here by the northern Wei, springtime trees;

east of the Yangzi, clouds at the close of day—

when will we share a cask of wine,

once more debate the subtleties of the written word?

1. Yu Xin (513–581), who held the title of Commander Unequaled in Honor, and Bao Zhao (414–466), who held a military post late in life, were two of the most distinguished poets of the period preceding the Tang.

Twenty-two Rhymes Presented to Assistant Secretary of the Left Wei

(5-ch. old style, written probably in 748 or 749, when Du Fu was in Chang’an, and presented to Wei Ji, an eminent official and litterateur who held the post of Assistant Secretary of the Left in the Department of State Affairs. Du Fu’s family had been acquainted with the Wei family for several generations, and Du Fu himself, as the poem indicates, enjoyed the favor and patronage of Wei Ji. While thanking Wei Ji for his support and lamenting his own unworthiness, Du Fu is clearly hinting at his desire for continued patronage, though the close of the poem pictures him as ready to quit the capital in despair. The poem offers an invaluable insight into Du Fu’s personality and ambitions—his immense self-confidence, here humorously expressed but at times bordering on arrogance; his longing for official position and the lofty goals he hoped to achieve thereby; and the intense frustration he felt over his inability to pass the exam and get ahead in the world.)

5

Those in silk underpants rarely die of hunger,

but a scholar’s cap can bring its wearer much mishap.

Kind sir, please listen attentively

while a humble man states his case.

In the past, when I was still young,

already chosen a candidate for the exam,

reading books, I polished off ten thousand volumes,

wielded my writing brush like a god,

in rhyme-prose hailed the rival of Yang Xiong,

in poetry rated akin to Cao Zhi;

Li Yong desired to make my acquaintance,

Wang Han begged to move in next door.¹

I too thought myself quite exceptional,

fit at once to climb to high office,

to lift my ruler higher than Yao and Shun,

restore the purity of the people’s ways.

Those hopes ended in bleak despair,

though I go on singing, no hider from the world.²

Thirty years astride a donkey,

I take what there is to eat in the springtime capital,

mornings rapping at some rich fellow’s gate,

evenings trailing the dust of his fat horses.

Leftover wine, a bit of cold roast,

and everywhere this sorrow I bear in silence.

Not long ago the sovereign held a levy;

suddenly here was my chance for advancement!³

But in the blue sky my wings failed me;

I c...

Table of contents

• Cover 
• Half title
• Editorial Board
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents 
• Chronology
• Introduction
• Poems
• Selected Bibliography
• Series List