Thursday, February 23, 2012

More poetry in life

[By nainai, 4 lines of 7 words]

Reply to fifth brother (her friend) Di Zong and his wife
 
Past days' youthful face has not changed
Slim figures looking better than years before
This huge rock by you gives protection
Mind upheld supported you look at ease

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[By gonggong. 4 lines of 7 words. History lesson via my mom: a long time ago, a formerly prestigious poet Bai Juyi was brought low. One day, as he sat drunk by the riverbank, he heard someone playing the pipa. It was a woman hidden by the reeds on the river's edge. The man wrote a poem about how well the woman played. She used to be a popular singer, all the men were crazy about her. Every time she played she got lots of money and presents. Year by year, her youth left and she waned in popularity. When she was older, she married a merchant who left home often. Once in a while, she’d play. Everyone cried hearing her life story through the poem of the man.]
 
Pi Pa Pagoda  
close to Jioujiang, nowadays a busy port, not like when Bai Juyi wrote about the lady pipa player

Boat stacks let out steam and smoke
River runs high, moon in the sky
If you look for the pipa story
No dinghies on waters' edge selling tea

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