Translation of Li Changji's Poems

In the middle of October in the fifth year of Taihe, at midnight, a man shouted outside the house to deliver a letter. I said, "There must be something special. Turn on the light! " When I opened the letter, I saw a letter from Mr. Shen, a bachelor of Jixian County. The letter said: "My dead friend Li He had a deep friendship with me during Yuanhe years, and lived together day and night, drinking and eating. On his deathbed, Li He gave me the poems he had written all his life, which were divided into four parts, totaling 233. Over the past few years, I have been tossing and turning, really thinking that my poetry collection has been lost; I was so drunk tonight that I couldn't sleep any more. I went through boxes and books and suddenly found a poem that Li He gave me before he died. Looking back, I chatted and played with Li He. Every place, every scene, every day and every night, every time I drink and eat, I never forget to give up. I can't help crying when I think of this. Li He has no wife and children to support his sympathy. I once thought of him with regret and realized his poems! You and I have deep feelings. Please preface Li He's poems for me and tell me the ins and outs of his poetry creation, which can also relieve my mood a little. "

That night I didn't decisively use letters to indicate that I couldn't write a preface. The next day, I went to Shen Gong's office to apologize and said that "the world thinks that Li He's talent far exceeds his predecessors" to show my refusal. A few days later, it suddenly occurred to me that you told me that my research on poetry was profound, wonderful and extensive, and I fully understood the gains and losses of his (Li He's) poetry. Now, if you really preface Li He's poems without saying goodbye, you must not say what you want. What should you do? "So I refused again, trying to express the reason why I dare not preface Li He's poems. Shen Gong said, "If you insist on this, you will ignore me. "Therefore, I dare not refuse any more, and reluctantly preface Li He's poems, but in fact I always feel ashamed.

Li He, one of the descendants of the Tang Dynasty, is long and auspicious. During the Yuanhe period, Han Yu also highly praised his songs and poems. Clouds and clouds are not enough to express the posture of his poems; The river is too far away to express his poetic talent; Spring is full, which is not enough to show the tenderness in his poems; The crisp autumn is not enough to express the style of his poetry; The mast in the wind and the horse in the battle are not enough to show the courage of his poetry; The bronze tripod engraved with Xiao seal on the tile coffin is not enough to show the simplicity of his poems; Beauty is not enough to express the color of his poems; Abandoned temples and dead graves in desolate places are not enough to express the resentment and sadness in his poems; The giant whale leaping, the ghost pawn and the snake head in the bull's head are not enough to express the emptiness and absurdity of his poems. Probably a descendant of Li Sao, it may not be as good as Qu Yuan in theory, but it may be better in writing. ("Li Sao" plays an ironic role in the treatment of chaos by the monarch and ministers.) There are accusations and resentment. When it comes to the traces of the treatment of chaos by the monarch and ministers, there are always inspiring feelings. It's just Li He's poem. I'm afraid there are all these. Li He explores the historical allusions of the past, which is also the reason why he deeply feels that the ancient and modern countries have not benefited, such as "The Legend of the Golden Copper Fairy to the Han Dynasty" and "Yu Jianwu Palace Ballad". Expressing emotions is far from the existing pen and ink routines, and occasionally there are contents that are completely incomprehensible. Li He lived for twenty-seven years and died! Poets all say: Li He didn't die early. If you add some truth to the poem, you can send Li Sao away as a slave. Fifteen years after Li He's death, Jing Zhao Du Mu prefaced his poems.