Li He Poem: Official Drums – 李贺《官街鼓》

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Li He – 李贺

 

官街鼓

李贺

晓声隆隆催转日,

暮声隆隆催月出。

汉城[1]黄柳映新帘,

柏陵[2]飞燕埋香骨。

捶碎千年日长白,

孝武秦王听不得。

从君翠发芦花色,

独共南山[3]守中国。

几回天上葬神仙,

漏声[4]相将无断缘。

注释:

[1] 汉城:指唐都城长安。

[2] 柏陵:指坟墓。

[3] 南山:指终南山。西起甘肃省天水,东至河南省陕县,绵亘千余里。

[4] 漏声:铜壶滴漏的声音。滴漏是古代计时的漏器,用铜壶盛水滴漏来计时刻。

Li He – 李贺

Official Drums

Li He

At dawn official drumbeats hasten the sunrise;

At dusk the booming drums call the moon to the skies.

When yellow willows put forth new buds in the town,

In tomb is buried the favorite of the crown.

The drums have boomed a thousand years, still shines the sun,

But ancient emperors of Qin and Han have done.

Your hair once black may turn white as reed flowers stand,

The drums with southern hills will ever guard our land.

Even immortals were buried in the sky,

The drumbeats and the water-clock will never die.

The time-marking drumbeats, says the poet, will last longer than imperial dynasty and human life.

Li He – 李贺

《官街鼓》是唐代诗人李贺创作的一首七古。此诗前六句写鼓声朝朝暮暮响不停,催转日月,草木生长、人之老死的正常现象,以及追求长生的秦始皇、汉武帝的老死,讽刺昔日帝王讲神仙、求长生的愚妄。后四句写人生变化生发,人的头发由黑变白,更言神仙也会老死,从根本上否定追求长生,迷信神仙的愚蠢行为。全诗构思奇巧,语言警拔,笔涉幽冥,意境幽冷,以鼓声之不断喻宇宙之长存、历史之无限,用以对比人生,抒发其深沉的人生感慨。

The “Official Drums” is a poem written by Li He, a poet of the Tang Dynasty. The first six lines of the poem are about the normal phenomenon of the drums beating non-stop from day to day, the sun and the moon, the growth of grass and trees, the old age and death of human beings, and the old age and death of Qin Shi Huang and Han Wu Di, who were in pursuit of immortality, satirizing the foolishness of the emperors in the past who talked about the immortals and sought immortality. The last four lines are about the change of life and the change of hair from black to white, and the death of the immortals. The whole poem is a clever and cleverly conceived poem, with alert language, a dark and cold mood, and the constant sound of drums as a metaphor for the longevity of the universe and the infinity of history.

Li He – 李贺
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