Liu Kezhuang Poem: Congratulations to the Bridegroom Reply to Wang Shizhi on his worries of the frontiers – 刘克庄《贺新郎 实之三和有忧边语,走笔答之》

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Liu Kezhuang – 刘克庄

贺新郎
实之三和有忧边语,走笔答之

刘克庄

国脉微如缕。
问长缨[1]何时入手,
缚将戎主?
未必人间无好汉,
谁与宽些尺度?
试看取当年韩五[2]。
岂有谷城公[3]付授,
也不干曾遇骊山母[4]。
谈笑起,
两河路。
少时棋柝[5]曾联句。
叹而今登楼揽镜[6],
事机频误。
闻说北风吹面急,
边上冲梯[7]屡舞。
君莫道投鞭虚语。
自古一贤能制难[8],
有金汤[9]、
便可无张许[10]?
快投笔,
莫题柱。

注释:
[1]长缨:捕缚放人的长绳。这里指统帅部队的军权。
[2]韩五:指抗金名将韩世忠。他排行第五,嗜酒豪纵,人称他“泼韩五”。
[3]谷城公:也称黄石公。曾经传授西汉张良《太公兵法》,并说:“十三年孺子见我济北,谷城山下黄石即我。”(见《史记·留侯世家》)
[4]骊山母:骊山老母,为道教女神仙。《集仙传》载,唐代将军李筌在嵩山得到黄帝《阴符经》,不晓其义,后在骊山下逢一老母,为他讲解《阴符经》。
[5]柝:通“拓”。开拓,扩大。
[6]登楼揽镜:比喻功业未竟而容颜已老。杜甫《江上》说:“勋业频看镜,行藏独倚楼。”
[7]冲梯:高梯。《后汉书·公孙瓒传》:“袁氏之攻,状若鬼神,梯冲舞吾楼上,鼓角鸣于地中。”
[8]“自古”句:《战国策·秦策》曰:“夫贤人在而天下服,一人用而天下从。”说明人才的力量和重要。
[9]金汤:金城汤池。比喻坚固的防御工程。
[10]张许:指张巡和许远。他们都是唐代安史之乱中死守雎阳的名将。

Congratulations to the Bridegroom
Reply to Wang Shizhi on his worries of the frontiers

Liu Kezhuang

The state at stake,
When can we take
The long, long rope in hand
To bind the foe invading our land?
Is there on earth no talents strong?
The measure should be long.
General Han did not learn from a sage,
Nor know the secret of the Golden Age.
Laughing he rose
And beat the foes.
While young, we rhymed each other’s verse,
And opened new horizon for better or worse.
But now we sigh,
Looking into the mirror in tower high
To find our hair sprinkled with frost
And many chances lost.
‘Tis said the northern wind would bite the face,
The foe would dance with ladder high on the frontier.
Don’t say the river can’t be crossed by our cavalier.
Since olden days a hero could turn the tide.
The stronghold can’t be strong without the general’s guide.
Give up the pen and take the spear!
Don’t leave only on the pillar your trace!

注释:
The poet urges on his friend to give up the pen to take up the spear, to leave not only verse on the pillar but also traces in the battlefield. General Hart who beat the Jurchen invaders was unlike Zhang Liang of the Han Dynasty who had learned from a sage.

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