old man and his daughters embraced
their tears mixed with their blood
the father bowed and offered his goods
he told the girls to call Tao-an “husband”
Tao-an straightened his robe and left
justice is precious and profit a trifle
the ancients disparaged rewards such as marriage
families shouldn’t form due to arms
he left to practice the scholarly arts
for ten years he was thus engaged
until Prefect Chang of Hsuchou
came waving his banner at the palace gate
devotion to a cause was Tao-an’s goal
he left Ch’ang-an and rode forth
夜發敲石火，山林如晝明。父子更抱持，涕血紛交零。
頓首願歸貨，納女稱舅甥。道安奮衣去，義重利固輕。
師婚古所病，合姓非用兵。朅來事儒術，十載所能逞
慷慨張徐州，朱邸揚前旌。投軀獲所願，前馬出王城。
he distinguished himself at his post
but autumn winds rose on the Huai
his lord suddenly died
and those he commanded rebelled
defying the emperor’s mandate
they filled the land with sounds of war
their excesses couldn’t be contained
their defiance couldn’t be restrained
lifting his head Tao-an drew his sword
those who love justice don’t think of themselves
not that martyrs are oblivious of death
they die to remain loyal and true
while others die fighting for power
or spend their lives chasing glory
my song isn’t meant to mourn a man’s death
but to mourn the ways of this world
轅門立奇士，淮水秋風生。君侯既即世，麾下相欹傾。
立孤抗王命，鐘鼓四野鳴。橫潰非所壅，逆節非所嬰。
舉頭自引刃，顧義誰顧形。烈士不忘死，所死在忠貞。
咄嗟徇權子，翕習猶趨榮。我歌非悼死，所悼時世情。
NOTE: Written in Ch’ang-an in the summer of 800, when Liu was serving as proofreader in the Academy of Scholarly Worthies. There was an insurrection that year in the Huai River region. When Chang Chien-feng 張建封, the magistrate of Hsuchou 徐州, died, the rebels made Chang’s son the new magistrate and refused to accept the court’s orders to put down their weapons. Chang had visited Ch’ang-an in 797 looking for talented men to assist him, and Wei Tao-an took up his banner. Unwilling to accept the flaunting of imperial authority, Wei committed suicide in protest. The loss of imperial control over the appointment of regional governors and their successors also meant loss of revenue for the court and was the single most serious problem facing the T’ang government during Liu’s lifetime. In the case of Hsuchou, it meant loss of control over the transshipment of grain coming from the Yangtze via the Grand Canal. Liu wrote a prose piece to accompany this poem, but it has since been lost. (1206)
4. AT CHIEF MINISTER HUN’S RESIDENCE ON HEARING A SONG RESEMBLING “WHITE LINEN” 渾鴻臚宅聞歌效白紵
A breathtaking beauty parts kingfisher curtains
in the light of a fall moon a dragon blade is unsheathed
crimson lips whisper without making a sound
gold pipes and jade chimes echo from the palace
inciting the sky to lower the autumn heat
turning the sun to crystal in a world without bounds
and these goblets of wine, again, why are we drinking
翠帷雙卷出傾城，龍劍破匣霜月明。朱脣掩抑悄無聲，金簧玉磬宮中生。
下沉秋火激太清，天高地迥凝日晶。羽觴蕩漾何事傾。
NOTE: This fancy poem depicts the highlights of an evening at the minister’s residence and was written in Ch’ang-an sometime before Liu’s exile in the ninth month of 805. Hun Chien 渾鍼 was the minister in charge of vassal state ceremonials. An odd number of lines was unusual in Chinese poetry, but Liu is emulating the seven-line song “White Linen” in which the rhyme is carried by the second, fourth, sixth, and seventh lines. The second line here refers to a sword dance, and the pipes in the fourth line were made of metal and consisted of half a dozen or more vertical tubes. Clearly, by the time he was thirty, Liu’s skill as a poet transcended the versification common among court officials. Unfortunately, we have only these four examples of his early work. (1250)
5. ODE FOR A CAGED EAGLE 籠鷹詞
In whistling wind and pelting sleet
an eagle takes off in morning light
flying through clouds cutting through rainbows
it dives like lightning into the hills
slicing through thickets of thorns with its wings
it grabs a rabbit then flies into the sky
other birds scatter from its bloody talons
settling on a perch it surveys its realm
the hot winds of summer suddenly arise
it loses its feathers and goes into hiding
harassed by vermin lurking in the grass
frightened and distressed unable to sleep
all it can think of is the
