Member Poem

Farewell to Cui

Pei Di (born ~ 714 A.D.)
 
 
On mountains steep and valleys deep
You’ll smile beyond the realm from there—
For just a day you’ll go that way,
To Peach Spring Garden, free of care.
 
 

Chinese   送崔九 裴迪   歸山深淺去 須盡丘壑美 莫學武陵人 暫遊桃源裡

Pronunciation   Sòng Cuī Jiǔ Péi Dí               Guī shān shēn qiǎn qù Xū jìn qiū hè xiào Mò xué wǔ líng rén Zàn yóu táo yuán lǐ

 
Transliteration and Notes
 
Send-Off Cui Nine
 
Return mountain deep shallow leave,
Must to-the-limit hill valleys smile.
None-who learn martial hill man,
Temporary wander peach spring within.
 
     “Deep shallow” means “deep or shallow.” “Martial hill” is the literal meaning of Wuling, an area in Hunan. “Peach spring” is the Garden of the Peaches of Immortality in Shangri-La, an imaginary land of joy and plenty. The poem compares Cui’s journey through the mountains to the story of a fisherman from Wuling who spent a day in paradise.
     Pei Di was a younger contemporary and close personal friend of Wang Wei. He also maintained a poetic relationship with Du Fu. Little is known about him except through his correspondence with these more famous poets, other than that he had a successful career as a government official.