Listen to this article奉赠韦左丞丈二十二韵
纨绔不饿死[1]，儒冠多误身。
丈人试静听[2]，贱子请具陈：
甫昔少年日[3]，早充观国宾。
读书破万卷，下笔如有神。
赋料扬雄敌[4]，诗看子建亲。
李邕求识面[5]，王翰愿卜邻。
自谓颇挺出[6]，立登要路津。
致君尧舜上[7]，再使风俗淳。
此意竟萧条，行歌非隐沦。
骑驴十三载，旅食京华春。
朝扣富儿门，暮随肥马尘。
残杯与冷炙，到处潜悲辛。
主上顷见征[8]，欻然欲求伸。
青冥却垂翅[9]，蹭蹬无纵鳞。
甚愧丈人厚，甚知丈人真。
每于百僚上，猥诵佳句新。
窃效贡公喜[10]，难甘原宪贫。
焉能心怏怏，只是走踆踆[11]。
今欲东入海[12]，即将西去秦。
尚怜终南山，回首清渭滨。
常拟报一饭[13]，况怀辞大臣。
白鸥没浩荡[14]，万里谁能驯！
注释：
[1] “纨绔”二句：纨绔，指富贵子弟。不饿死，不学无术却无饥饿之忧。儒冠多误身，满腹经纶的儒生却穷困潦倒。
[2] “丈人”二句：丈人，对长辈的尊称，这里指韦济。贱子，年少位卑者自谓，这里是杜甫自称。
[3] “甫昔”二句：这两句是指开元二十三年（735），杜甫以乡贡（由州县选出）的资格在洛阳参加进士考试的事。杜甫当时才二十四岁，就已是“观国之光”（参观王都）的国宾了，故曰“早充”。“观国宾”语出《周易·观卦·象辞》：“观国之光尚宾也。”
[4] “赋料”二句：扬雄，字子云，西汉辞赋家。料，差不多。敌，匹敌。子建，曹植的字，曹操之子，建安时期著名文学家。看，比拟。亲，接近。
[5] “李邕（yōnɡ）”二句：李邕，唐代文豪、书法家，曾任北海郡太守。杜甫少年在洛阳时，李邕奇其才，曾主动去结识他。王翰，当时著名诗人，《凉州词》的作者。
[6] “自谓”二句：挺出，杰出。立登要路津，很快就要得到重要的职位。
[7] “致君”二句：这两句说，如果自己得到重用的话，可以辅佐皇帝实现超过尧舜的业绩，使已经败坏的社会风俗再恢复到上古那样淳朴敦厚。这是当时一般儒者的最高政治理想。尧舜，传说中上古的圣君。
[8] “主上”二句：主上，指唐玄宗。顷，不久前。见征，被征召。歘（xū）然，忽然。欲求伸，希望表现自己的才能，实现致君尧舜的志愿。
[9] “青冥”二句：青冥却垂翅，飞鸟折翅从天空坠落。蹭蹬，行进困难的样子。无纵鳞，本指鱼不能纵身远游，这里是说理想不得实现。
[10] “窃效”二句：贡公，西汉人贡禹。他与王吉为友，闻吉显贵，高兴得弹冠相庆，因为知道自己也将出头。杜甫说自己也曾自比贡禹，并期待韦济能荐拔自己。难甘，难以甘心忍受。原宪，孔子的学生，以贫穷出名。
[11] 走踆踆（cūn）：且进且退的样子。
[12] “今欲”二句：东入海，指避世隐居。孔子曾言：“道不行，乘桴浮于海”（《论语》）。去秦，离开长安。
[13] “常拟”二句：报一饭，报答一饭之恩。春秋时灵辄报答赵宣子（见《左传》宣公二年），汉代韩信报答漂母（见《史记·淮阴侯列传》），都是历史上有名的报恩故事。辞大臣，指辞别韦济。
[14] “白鸥”二句：没浩荡，投身于浩荡的烟波之间。谁能驯，谁还能拘束我呢？
For Minister Wei
Du Fu
The rich of hunger never die;
The poor of their misfortune sigh.
Minister Wei, would you please hear
What I would confide to your ear?
While young, I was a candidate
In Civil Exams of the State.
Having ten thousand volumes read,
I wrote as if by God I was led.
In prose I was second to none;
In verse I vied with the best one.
Ministers would like to know me,
And poets my neighbors would be.
I thought, outstanding as was I,
A job was not hard to come by.
I would help the crown in my strife
To purify the ways of life.
I could not do what I desired;
Singing, I would not be retired.
Riding a donkey thirteen years,
I suffered the capital’s sneers.
I knock at the mansions by day;
At dusk I hear dusty steeds neigh.
I eat leftovers of a meal;
In vain I suffer a great deal.
The Crown showed his favor and love;
I saw a chance to rise above.
In the sky the roe folds its wings;
On the sea swim no scaly kings.
I thank you for your kindness tuee,
Knowing you’re kind in what you do.
Whenever you meet a good friend,
It’s my new verse you recommend.
Though glad of your prosperity,
How could I bear my poverty?
I’m not unhappy in my place;
But it’s a dilemma I face.
Should I go seaward for my rest,
Or to the capital in the west?
I love the Southern Mountains high
And the clear River flowing by.
I can’t forget what I owe you,
Nor what to ministers is due.
Like a white gull on the vast sea,
I’d fly for miles and miles, carefree.
The poet thanks Minister Wei for his kind help but he would be free like a gull.
