Lament at the Stupa of Jiaoran and the Tomb of Lu Yu

 

 

眠雲臥石

眠雲臥石

 

Stupa dedicated to Jiaoran

 

Meng Jiao of the Tang dynasty
Accompanying Lu Cheng Back to Huzhou, I Composed a Lament to the Dead at the Stupa of Jiaoran and the Tomb of Lu Yu

Pouring rain before the temple,
Pale waterclover gathers in the freshening wind.
Past poetry filled with friendship,
Now my poems, empty.

The lonely moan of the jade flute, doleful,
Distant thoughts, the vista – lush.
Here, the brick stupa of the Zen Master of Mount Zhu.
Here, the Jingling Elder of the Endless Night.

The sound of grasses and trees, profuse
As if filled with a sense of wisdom
By you and all your verses,
Abundant and amassed.

Pursuing poetry, you once said,
Of verse, there truly was no lack.
Yet a river’s song is hard to repeat
And the dust of the capital fills only the body.

Sending you astream, two mandarins,
Colors paired, flying east.
High and serene, the Eastern Realm,
Beautiful abode, cold and sublime.

My hands gather your treasured works,
Offerings that foster joy and full harmony.
Embracing them gratefully at the end,
Not at the pavilion on the banks of the Luo
But at Death, the Great Unity.

 

 

Meng Jiao poem inset in the stupa dedicated to Jiaoran

唐 孟郊

送陸暢歸湖州因憑吊故人皎然塔陸羽墳

淼淼霅寺前     白蘋多清風

昔游詩會滿     今游詩會空

孤吟玉淒惻     遠思景蒙籠

杼山磚塔禪     竟陵廣宵翁

饒彼草木聲     仿佛聞餘聰

因君寄數句     遍為書其叢

追吟當時說     來者實不窮

江調難再得     京塵徒滿躬

送君溪鴛鴦     彩色雙飛東

東多高靜鄉     芳宅冬亦崇

手自擷甘旨     供養歡沖融

待我遂前心     收拾使有終

不然洛岸亭    歸死為大同

 

全唐詩 juan 379, p. 8b.

27. April 2021 by Steven D. Owyoung
Categories: Literature, Translation | Leave a comment