刘长卿: 江州重别薛六柳八二员外/ liu changqing: on leaving guijiang again to xue and liu

江州重别薛六柳八二员外

刘长卿

生涯岂料承优诏？ 世事空知学醉歌。

江上月明胡雁过， 淮南木落楚山多。

寄身且喜沧洲近， 顾影无如白发何！

今日龙钟人共老， 愧君犹遣慎风波。

　

on leaving guijiang again to xue and liu

liu changqing

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.