Wang Wei: Late Spring: Low Level Government Official Yan and Friends Give Me A Visit

 

Late Spring: Low Level Government Official Yan and Friends Give Me a Visit

 

晚 春 严 少 尹 与 诸 公 见 过
松 菊 荒 三 径
图 书 共 五 车。
烹 葵 邀 上 客
看 竹 到 贫 家。
鹊 乳 先 春 草
莺 啼 过 落 花。
自 怜 黄 发 暮
一 倍 惜 年 华。

 

Wan Chun Yan Shao Yin Yu Zhu Gong Jian Guo

Song ju huang san jing
Tu shu gong wu che.
Peng kui yao shang ke
Kan zhu dao pin jia.

Que ru xian chun cao
Ying ti guo luo hua.
Zi lian huang fa mu
Yi bei xi nian hua.

 

Late Spring: Low Level Government Official Yan and Friends
Give Me a Visit

Pine trees’ shade prolongs the chrysanthemums
In my neglected and barren three-pathway garden are
five cartloads of books in the library.
Stir-fried greens and herbs for the special invited guests
Admire bamboo from my humble dwelling.

Magpies reproduce with the first spring grasses
Orioles sing when the flowers fall down.
Pity for oneself, graying hair in the sunset years
Cherish youthful years, as they occur only once.

 

Notes:

Three-pathway garden: It includes all of the garden.

Five cartloads of books: A man who is a literati.

Admire bamboo: To visit with true friends of the same consciousness, and a literary allusion to the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.