184 t He tang Dy na s t y
C 9. 2
On the River, I Came upon Waters Surging Like the Ocean:
For Now, I Give This Short AccountI’m an eccentric sort of person, captivated by fine lines;
2 until my language is startling, I’d sooner die than give up.
As I pass into old age, I throw myself into poems in a really slapdash way—
4 when spring arrives, the flowers and birds ought not to deeply worry.
I’ve newly added a pier by the water, to serve me as I dangle my fishing line;
6 remaining from before, my moored raft, to take the place of a boat to ride in.
How can I find an old hand with thoughts like Tao Qian or Xie Lingyun,
8 to have him compose and take excursions with me?
[QTS 7:226.2443]江上值水如海勢聊短述
(jiāng shàng zhí shuĭ rú hăi shì liáo duăn shù)
as person nature eccentric delight in fine verses 為人性僻耽佳句 (wéi rén xìng pì dān jiā jù)
language not startle person die not rest 語不驚人死不休 (yŭ bù jīng rén sĭ bù xiū)
old (-away) poem (-piece) wholly overflow go with 老去詩篇渾漫與 (lăo qù shī piān hún màn yŭ)
spring come flower bird do not deeply worry 春來花鳥莫深愁 (chūn lái huā niăo mò shēn chóu)
new(ly) add water pier provide hang fishing 新添水檻供垂釣 (xīn tiān shuĭ jiàn gōng chuí diào)
formerly attach floating raft replace enter boat 故著浮槎替入舟 (gù zhuó fú chá tì rù zhōu)
where get thought like Tao Xie hand 焉得思如陶謝手 (yān dé sī rú táo xiè shŏu)
command/make him relate compose with together wander 令渠述作與同遊 (lìng qú shù zuò yŭ tóng yóu)
[Tonal pattern I, see p. 171]
The first couplet of this poem is often cited as perhaps Du Fu’s most forthright
statement of his obsessiveness as a verbal craftsman. The poem’s reticences and
ambiguities, however, are equally important. First of these concerns is the relation
of the poem to its title. Typically, the title of an occasional poem simply states
the occasion: the poem is understood as the poet’s response to something in the
world; the title reports what that something was. Clearly, such a straightforward
formula cannot be applied here. The something that initially happened—Du Fu’s
vision of the river waters as vast and powerful like the ocean—is never treated
directly (although we may read the third couplet as alluding to it obliquely). The
train of thought linking the title and the poem would seem to go something like
this: “The grandeur, vastness, and power of that scene was too great for my meager
ability to do justice to it. Therefore, in place of the ‘proper’ poem on that topic that
I was unable to write, I substitute these lines, as a comment on this breakdown
of my ability as a poet.” Read in this way, then, this is a poem about the failure to
write a poem, and the final couplet a gently self-mocking wish for a more qualified
substitute poet to call on whenever the demands of a poetic occasion are too much
for Du Fu to handle.