Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE SCHOLAR IN THE NARROW STREET, by TSO SSU


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SCHOLAR IN THE NARROW STREET, by                    
First Line: Flap, flap, the captive bird in the cage
Last Line: And this should be the wise man's pattern.
Alternate Author Name(s): T'ai-ch'ung+(1)
Subject(s): China - Middle Ages (600 B.c.- 618 A.d.)


FLAP, flap, the captive bird in the cage
Beating its wings against the four corners.
Depressed, depressed the scholar in the narrow street:
Clasping a shadow, he dwells in an empty house.
When he goes out, there is nowhere for him to go:
Bunches and brambles block up his path.
He composes a memorial, but it is rejected and unread,
He is left stranded, like a fish in a dry pond.
Without -- he has not a single farthing of salary:
Within -- there is not a peck of grain in his larder.
His relations upbraid him for his lack of success:
His friends and callers daily decrease in number.
Su Ch'in used to go preaching in the North
And Li Ssu sent a memorandum to the West.
I once hoped to pluck the fruits of life:
But now alas, they are all withered and dry.
Though one drinks at a river, one cannot drink more than a bellyful;
Enough is good, but there is no use in satiety.
The bird in a forest can perch but on one bough,
And this should be the wise man's pattern.





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