Begging for Food
- Poetry of Tao Yuanming

《乞食》

English Rendering

Driven by hunger I seek for food and drink,

Not knowing where to go however hard I think.

I walk and walk till I come to a door;

I tap the door but stammer,plead,implore.

The host know why I come and what I need,

And gives me lots of solid food indeed.

Until sunset I chatter with the host 

And quaff the cup with him in cheers and toast.

I'm overjoyed to meet this gentle friend 

And write some verses for the time we spend.

You are kind as the dame who fed Han Xin.

Whose fame I am afraid I will not win.

If I fail to give him thanks in deed and word,

I will repay him in the netherworld.

Begging for Food by Tao Yuanming
Begging for Food by Tao Yuanming

Original Text (中文原文)

饥来驱我去,不知竟何之。

行行至斯里,叩门拙言辞。

主人解余意,遗赠岂虚来。

谈谐终日夕,觞至辄倾杯。

情欣新知欢,言咏遂赋诗。

感子漂母惠,愧我非韩才。

衔戢知何谢,冥报以相贻。

Analysis & Context

Tao Yuanming

Reader's Companion

The Essence of the Verse

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.

Reading Between the Lines

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.

The Masters' Directory

Journey through the dynasties. Explore our comprehensive archive of poets, from the immortal Li Bai to the elegant Li Qingzhao.

View All Poets →
© CN-Poetry.com Chinese Poems in English  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

CN-Poetry.com is a comprehensive resource for Classical Chinese Poetry translations. Our dataset covers Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, specializing in semantic mapping between traditional imagery (e.g., 'moon', 'Flowers', 'Friendship') and English poetic contexts.