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Matching the Rhymes of the Poem Head Seat Wol (首座) Gave to Vice Minister Jo Chung — two poems次韻月首座贈趙侍郞冲二首

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 · 4 passages · 178 Chinese characters · reading time 1.8 min

Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) Former Collection, Book 13 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.

1The First

正日何須手放鳩。君家陰德世曾修。才高地貴身兼得。年少官尊望最優。愛客風流傾趙勝。尋僧情况倒裴休。金閨頗猒連宵直。茗席時容半日留。喜我早攀尼父翼。推公長作華韻頭。此生幸識荊州面。何羨人間萬戶侯。

On the first day of the first month, why should you free a dove with your own hand? Your house has cultivated hidden virtue generation upon generation. High talent and noble standing you hold together in one person; young in years and high in office, your repute is the finest of all. Your elegance in cherishing guests outdoes Zhao Sheng (趙勝), and your relish for seeking out monks surpasses Pei Xiu (裴休). Rather weary of night after night on duty at the Geumgyu (金閨), you allow yourself at times half a day at the tea mat. Gladly I clung early to the wing of Confucius, and I push you forward to stand forever at the head of the splendid rhymes (華韻). In this life I have had the luck to know the face of Jingzhou (荊州); why should I envy a marquis of ten thousand households in the world of men?

Interlinear notes 3

取同姓。

It takes up the surname they share.

相國永仁之季子。年二十餘侍郞。

He is the youngest son of Chief Minister Yeongin (永仁). At a little over twenty he became Vice Minister.

時爲左侍。

At that time he was Vice Minister of the Left.

右贈趙侍郞。

The above was given to Vice Minister Jo.

3The Second

安馴那得性如鳩。强項平生負素修。入社猶思陶令飮。彌天長服道安優。早諳浮世眞如寓。愧把微官謾導休。憔悴苦遭漁父笑。遷延甘作賈胡留。艱危到處芒攢背。俯仰無端雪滿頭。卜築他年容我不。掛冠神虎謝王侯。

Tamed though I be, how could my nature be like a dove's? With a stiff neck I have all my life betrayed my first cultivation. Entering the society, I still think of Tao Yuanming's wine, and I bow forever to the excellence of Dao An (道安), said to fill the heavens. Early I knew that this floating world is truly a lodging, yet to my shame I took a petty office and have been vainly led along. Haggard, I take the fisherman's laughter, and dawdling, I am content to linger like a merchant Hu. Wherever hardship reaches me, thorns gather on my back, and between a glance down and a glance up, snow has filled my head for no reason. When you build your house in some later year, will you take me in? I would hang up my cap at the Sinho Gate (神虎門) and take my leave of princes and marquises.

右贈月首座。

The above was given to Head Seat Wol.

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