For Minister Wei
- Poetry of 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.

纨绔不饿死，儒冠多误身。

丈人试静听，贱子请具陈。

甫昔少年日，早充观国宾。

读书破万卷，下笔如有神。

赋料扬雄敌，诗看子建亲。

李邕求识面，王翰愿卜邻。

自谓颇挺出，立登要路津。

致君尧舜上，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，欻然欲求伸。

青冥却垂翅，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，难甘原宪贫。

焉能心怏怏，只是走踆踆。

今欲东入海，即将西去秦。

尚怜终南山，回首清渭滨。

常拟报一饭，况怀辞大臣。

白鸥没浩荡，万里谁能驯？