University of Virginia Library

七言律詩 劉長卿 江州重別薛六柳八二員外

生涯豈料承優詔? 世事空知學醉歌。
江上月明胡雁過, 淮南木落楚山多。
寄身且喜滄洲近, 顧影無如白髮何!
今日龍鐘人共老, 媿君猶遣慎風波。

Seven-character-regular-verse
Liu Changquing ON LEAVING GUIJIANG AGAIN TO XUE AND LIU

Dare I, at my age, accept my summons,
Knowing of the world's ways only wine and song?....
Over the moon-edged river come wildgeese from the Tartars;
And the thinner the leaves along the Huai, the wider the southern mountains....
I ought to be glad to take my old bones back to the capital,
But what am I good for in that world, with my few white hairs?....
As bent and decrepit as you are, I am ashamed to thank you,
When you caution me that I may encounter thunderbolts.