Meng is a man of rivers and seas,
With ancient looks and an ancient heart.
He once read books of the old sages,
Saying the past is just like the present.
He composed three hundred poems,
Their depth like the music of Xianchi.
He rode a donkey to the capital,
Hoping to harmonize with the warm wind's lute.
How could he know the Son of Heaven's abode,
Layered deep, somber and vast?
A single gate guarded by a hundred men,
No entry without credentials to be found.
Crystal light dazzles and shoots,
Banners and halberds flutter, dense and stern.
Hesitating, he steps back abruptly,
Astonished, overwhelmed, bearing the shock.
He lifts his head to gaze at the bright sun,
Tears fall, soaking his lapel.
He came to visit the high ministers,
None would lower their ornate hairpins.
Surely not of the carriage-and-crown clan,
His responses often missed the mark.
Duckweed adrift on swift winds and waves,
Mulberry and elm, days and months encroach.
Why then follow the path of the jinshi?
This road grows ever more rugged and steep.
A rare gem fears the common crowd,
A lone blossom finds no forest to lodge.
Who pities the nature of pine and cassia?
All compete to love peach and plum shade.
Mornings grieve leaves leaving the tree,
Evenings moved by birds returning to nests.
Seeing my own abundant fervor,
He visits my humble eaves at times.
In quiet night, we sit face to face,
My white hair listens to his bitter chant.
Plucking orchids stirs hidden thoughts,
Gazing afar toward the southeast.
Between Qin and Wu, distant and blocked,
Two lands, no measure of gold can bridge.
I speak of the governor of Xufang,
His love for antiquity admired under heaven.
Bamboo seeds, what phoenixes eat,
Virtue's fragrance, what spirits enjoy.
To see all hills as small,
One must climb Mount Tai's peak.
To see all streams as tiny,
One must sail the deep azure sea.
My friend, listen to my words,
They may serve as your admonition.
Once you gain, think of return,
Do not linger long in idle delay.
Like Bian He offering jade thrice,
I await you by the autumn washing stone.