| 5 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 寄刘尚书 | To Grand Secretary Liu | |
八座镇雄军， 歌谣满路新。 汾川三月雨， 晋水百花春。 囹圄长空锁， 干戈久覆尘。 儒僧观子夜， 羁客醉红茵。 笔砚行随手， 诗书坐绕身。 小才多顾盼， 得作食鱼人。 |
The Eight Ministries control the valiant troops;[1] songs and carols fill the road anew. On the River Fen, third-month rains; on the Jin River, a hundred-flower spring. Prisons and jails have been locked up empty; weapons of war are now covered in dust. Scholars and monks watch Midnight[2] perform; visiting guests get drunk on scarlet mats. The brush and the inkstone move at ease in your hand; poems and letters sit surrounding you. Even those of minor talent are well cared for; they are men who may dine on fish.[3] |
[1]Walls reads this as indicating that the military is under civilian control.
[2]Midnight (子夜) was a singing girl of the Jin dynasty (265-420); a very influential group of love poems is attributed to her.
[3]This is an allusion to the story of Feng Xuan (冯谖), a retainer who complained he was not well provided for because he had no fish to eat. This may also be a reference to self: Yu Xuanji, after all, was a courtesan whose surname (鱼) meant "fish".
