初到黄州 Upon Arriving at Huangzhou

初到黄州

原作: 苏轼（字子瞻, 号东坡居士; 11世纪北宋）

英文版及赏析: 闵晓红(2023)

自笑平生为口忙，

老来事业转荒唐。

长江绕郭知鱼美，

好竹连山觉笋香。

逐客不妨员外置，

诗人例做水曹郎。

只惭无补丝毫事，

尚费官家压酒囊。

Upon Arriving at Huangzhou

Chinese original： Su Shi (11th AC, social name 'Dongpo')

English version： Julia Min (2023)

My whole life feels like a farcical stage,

Growing oddly funny now with old age.

A busy life, with mouths for me to feed;

A lousy outcome from silly words’ deed.

The Yangtse embraces the town in a loop,

Where river fish should taste just as good.

I can also see bamboo groves on the hills,

Where I should find tender, earthy shoots.

An outcast is seen to excel on waterways.

An attendant role will keep troubles at bay.

The little work I do is not worth the pay.

The wine grain Lord gave is such a waste!

Notes:

1.     In a loop: the town of Huangzhou was then surrounded on three sides by the Yangtse River, resembling a peninsula. Today, after a thousand years of change, the river has become noticeably narrower, and its course must have shifted, as it is now about a mile away from the ancient town wall and the Red Cliff.

2.     The wine grain: referring to Su Shi’s wage as a banished official, usually 2/3 paid in material and only 1/3 in cash.  The material he received was just a bag of grain for making wine.

Appreciation:

In February 1080, Su Shi and his family arrived in exile at Huangzhou, a remote town far from the capital, after 130 days in prison. It marked a new beginning—much like the promising spring landscape they encountered travelling south from the Yellow River to the Yangtze, the land of fish and rice. You might expect a more docile man to emerge, which would have disappointed us. No, the near-death experience strengthened his stoicism and fortitude, infused with dark humour. This resilience inspired a frenzy of romantic poems, representing the peak of his literary output. His calligraphy from this period, carved in stone at Red Cliff, shows a liberated spirit compared to earlier works.

He has always been loved for his optimism. Bright and breezy even now, he dreams of tasty fish and sweet bamboo shoots despite his fallen fortunes. The underlying satire is unmistakable—you almost wish he could hold his tongue to avoid future misfortune. As we know, he was later banished twice more, eventually to "the end of the world" (Hainan Island)—the furthest border the emperor could find to keep Su Shi's mouth shut. Imagine how influential he was.

This translation attempts to prioritise voice over literalism, hoping to let Su Shi's irrepressible personality shine through. The opening couplet—"My whole life feels like a farcical stage, / growing strangely funny now with old age"—seeks to establish his wry self-awareness, while "silly words' deed" tries to preserve the famous pun on "为口忙" (busy for my mouth/in trouble from my mouth). The closing line, "The wine grain my Lord gave is such a waste!", aims to maintain the original's ironic gratitude—accepting the Emperor's provision while gently mocking his own worthlessness.

Reference:

1. Blooming Alone in Winter by Gordon Osing, Julia Min, and Huang Haipeng， published by the People's Publication House Henan Province in 1990 (《寒心未肯随春态》戈登.奥赛茵，闵晓红，黄海鹏) (“Upon Arriving at Huangzhou -- My mouth’s always busy -- eating, composing, or speaking out, / And now I’ve aged and my position turned ridiculous. / Oh well, the fish taste just as good on the edge of town, / Where the bamboo groves and the sweet shoots are the earthiest. / It matters little that I’m useless, banished, barely a guest; / Poets are known to make great inspectors of waterways. / And the work I do can’t touch the pay I get. / That bag of wine they send is surely wasted.”)

2. picture from Google