Two Miscellaneous Poems
- Poetry of Kong Rong

其一

岩岩钟山首，赫赫炎天路。高明曜云门，远景灼寒素。

昂昂累世士，结根在所固。吕望老匹夫，苟为因世故。

管仲小囚臣，独能建功祚。人生有何常？但患年岁暮。

幸托不肖躯，且当猛虎步。安能一苦身，与世同举厝。

由不慎小节，庸夫笑我度。吕望尚不喜，夷齐何足慕。

其二

远送新行客，岁暮乃来归。入门望爱子，妻妾向人悲。

闻子不可见，日已潜光辉。孤坟在西北，常念君来迟。

褰裳上墟丘，但见蒿与薇。白骨归黄泉，肌体乘尘飞。

生时不识父，死后知我谁？孤魂游穷暮，飘摇安所依？

人生图嗣息，尔死我念追，俛仰内伤心，不觉泪沾衣。

人生自有命，但恨生日希。

Ⅰ

High rises Mount Zhongshan up in the north;

Hot lies the scorching road down in the south 

The sun is shining over heavenly gates 

And sending scorching heat on icy states.

Men of lofty aims all through the ages 

Stick to the noble purpose of the sages.

For ninety years among the common men,

Lu Wang became the teacher of Lord Wen.

Once imprisoned when he was a young man,

Guan Zhong became the premier of Duke Huan.

Each man may have a fate of different sort;

The pity is that human life is short.

Although a man of ill luck in this world,

I'll act the tiger in my deed and word.

How can I waste my life for my own yen 

And wallow in the mire with mundane men?

As I don't care about the mere details,

I am assailed and sneered with groundless tales.

Lu Wang does not conform to my desire;

Boyi and Shuqi aren't what I admire!

Ⅱ

Far away from home for my career,

I came back to my house late in the year.

When I looked around for my dear son,

From my wife's eyes tears began to run.

When I heard that my dear son was dead,

It seemed that the sun was no longer red.

"In the northwest lies his lonely tomb.

You are too late to see him,I assume."

When I went out and hurried to the mound,

Wild vetch and wormwood were all that I found.

His bones now slumber in the netherworld;

His flesh is mixed with dust and soars skyward.

As he failed to see me on his deathbed,

How can he know me now that he is dead?

When his spirit wanders in the dark,

Where in the world will it at last embark?

Every man expects to have his son,

But I can only follow my dead one.

Nowhere on earth am I to find relief;

My coat is soaked with tears of lasting grief.

To their fate all men perforce concede,

But my son's life is much too short indeed.