If once together with the wind the roc could rise,
He would fly ninety thousand li up to the skies.
E'en if he must descend when the wind has abated.
Still billows will be raised and the sea agitated.
Seeing me, those in power think I'm rather queer;
Hearing me freely talk, they can't refrain from sneer.
Confucius was in dread of talents that would be;
A sage will ne'er look down upon a youth like me.
大鹏一日同风起，扶摇直上九万里。
假令风歇时下来，犹能簸却沧溟水。
世人见我恒殊调，闻余大言皆冷笑。
宣父犹能畏后生，丈夫未可轻年少。
In 726 Li Bai sought the patronage of Li Yong, offcial who was more than twenty years older than he.
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
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