Living by the Stream
Long burdened by official cap and sash,
I find myself in southern exile.
At leisure I live beside farming neighbours,
At times resembling a visitor of the hills.
At dawn I turn dewy grass while tilling;
At night an oar sounds against stream stones.
Coming and going, I meet no one;
I sing long beneath the blue southern sky.
Notes
Cap pin and seal ribbon stand for official life; the first line has a variant reading. Zhe means exile or demotion. Bang means to row. The word “fortunate” may carry irony in the context of exile, rather than simple delight.
Meaning
The poet describes life by a stream after exile: neighbours, morning work and night rowing coexist with a complex view of official life and displacement.
Appreciation
The opening moves from official life to southern exile, with a potentially ironic “fortunate.”
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Farming neighbours and “resembling” a mountain visitor evoke a rural life without erasing uncertainty.
Morning tilling and night rowing give the day movement and sound.
Meeting no one and singing under a broad sky can suggest both space and solitude.
About the poet
Liu Zongyuan (773–819), courtesy name Zihou, was a Tang writer and thinker whose family came from the area of present-day Yuncheng, Shanxi.
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After taking part in a political reform that failed, he was sent to Yongzhou and later served as prefect of Liuzhou.
His works include River Snow and the prose collection Eight Records of Yongzhou.