Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) 東國李相國集 · Yi Gyubo · Compiled 1241 (Goryeo, 28th year of King Gojong); revised and enlarged 1251 · 1 passages · 84 Chinese characters · reading time 0.9 min
Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) Former Collection, Book 2 The collected writings of Yi Gyubo of Goryeo, gathered and cut in woodblock by his son Yi Ham in 1241 and revised and enlarged by his grandson Yi Ikbae in 1251. It holds poems and rhapsodies, memorials and reports sent up to the king, records written for temples and pagodas, stele and tomb inscriptions, letters and prefaces, and the state letters that passed to and from the Mongols during the invasions. The Lay of King Dongmyeong, which sings the founder of Goguryeo, stands in volume 3 of the first collection, and the daily life of a man who called himself the White Cloud Layman — with his wine, his zither and his verse — fills the later collection. The book closes with the last poem he wrote as his eyes failed and he laid down the brush, and with the dirge and tomb inscription others made for him after his death.
I recall the days long ago when the Radiant Emperor (明皇) went out roaming,
when dragon boats and brocade hawsers made it seem the rivers and lakes.
The courtesans who urged on the merriment turned their eyes and laughed;
the wine-soaked court poets (詞臣) fell down and were held up by the armpits.
From of old, those who exhaust extravagance can hardly drive far;
how many people think of the old days and let out a long sigh?
On the collapsed embankment no blue waves can be seen beating;
the double roadway has become all green grass and waste ground.
The silk robes fluttered off and scattered away with the clouds,
and the reed pipes and songs have turned to birds calling to one another.
In the midst of this the mirror of Yin (殷) stands plain —
do not let the remaining foundations be swept away.
Interlinear notes 1
一作請見遺基半有無。
Some copies read, 「See whether even half of the remaining foundations are left.」