Du Fu: Lament For a Prince Errant (From Chinese)

This poem was written in 756 or shortly thereafter during the An Lushan rebellion. Du Fu was trapped in Chang'an after it had fallen to the rebels. An Lushan had ordered that all Tang royalty be executed. His killing-squads were sweeping the city, hunting down members of the House of Tang, and executing them on sight.

The "stanzaic" divisions in this poem correspond to a formal division in the original. The Chinese is rhymed AAbAcAdA...etc as one might expect. However, each section separated by an empty line in my translation begins with another AA internally rhymed couplet in the original. These seem to correspond to thematic or dramatized shifts in the original and I felt it important to mark them as such.

The term used for "prince" here ?? (recurring four times throughout the poem) calls to mind the theme, quite old in Chinese poetry, of the "wandering prince." The "wandering prince" is often a man roaming somewhere in the wilderness, being urged by the poem's speaker to return home where he belongs while his wife is yet young. There may also be an echo of a specific wandering prince, Han Xin, who though a grandson of the king of Han, was nonetheless a commoner early in life, and was - so the story goes - saved from starvation by an old woman who saw him fishing by the Huai River and fed him for months out of pity. In Du Fu's poem, both of these tropes are inverted. Here the prince is forced into vagabondage, and dare not return home if he wishes to survive, and is moreover denied the succor that the old woman is reported to have extended to Han Xin.  
    

Lament For a Prince Errant
By Du Fu
Translated by A.Z. Foreman

Black in the air the whitehood crows¹ from Chang'an's walls took flight
And loud above the Yanqiu Gate called � cawed into the night
Then wheeled toward homes of men to peck on mansion roofs in hordes
Warning high ministers below to flee the rebel² swords
The gold whips snapped � horse upon horse galloped till it fell dead
Not all the Emperor's flesh and blood could join him as he fled

Blue coral and a precious crest of jade about his waist

Off by the road I spot a prince pathetic, teary-faced 

I ask his name � he will not say He dare not be so brave

But begs me in his misery to take him as a slave 

He has escaped the killing-squads hiding in bush and thorn
For a hundred days leaving his flesh no shred of skin untorn 
But the bridged nose of Gaozu's line³ bespeaks the royal clan  
The Dragon's seed is not the seed of ordinary man � 
"Wild dogs now stalk the city streets the Dragon roams the wild

Preserve Your precious self Your Highness now that the court's exiled 

I dare not speak with You too long here in plain roadside view
But for Your royal sake will pause and spare a word or two 
A spring wind from the east last night  blew blood's stench through the air  
And camels from the east filed in to load loot everywhere
The Northland troops of Geshu Han good men well-honed in war
So brave and sharp they were back then � such idiots they now are⁴
The Son of Heaven has abdicated or so the rumors run
And in the north His Royal Virtue has tamed the southern Khan⁵
They've gashed their faces � vowed to blot all this dishonor out 
But careful whom you tell this to with all these spies about⁶

Alas indeed poor prince � take care pray the auspicious power

Of the Imperial Tombs⁷ remain your guardian every hour"

Notes:

1- White-headed crows were an ominous sign. The direct inspiration here is that of Hou Jing, who usurped the power of the Liang emperors for a brief while. White-headed crows were said to have appeared over the southern gate of the Palace City at the time of takeover.

2- "Rebel" here translates ?, a word often rendered as "barbarian" or "Tartar" but which in fact could serve during the Tang as a generic term for any ethnic group other than Han Chinese. An Lushan was of mixed Turkic and Sogdian descent. 

3- The high-bridged nose was characteristic of the Han imperial house, specifically that of its founder Gaozu. c.f. 

4- Geshu Han's troops from Shuofang and elsewhere in the northern frontier commands, though they had done well against Tibet, were badly defeated at the Tong pass against An Lushan due to Geshu Han being forced through intrigue into some tactically unsound maneuvers.

5- Emperor Xuanzong had abdicated in favor of Suzong who had made an alliance with the Uighur Khan.

6- The reference to "gashing faces" is a call-back to the gestural vow of vengeance made by the Xiongnu.

7- The five imperial Tombs of the Tang, whose continued potency would augur the restoration of Tang rule.

The Original:
(Medieval Chinese transcribed using a slight modification of David Branner's system)

??? ei_1a ghwang₃ swen₁ 

?? du�_1a pu�_3c

???????, drang₃ an₁ dzyeing_3b dou₁ dou₁ beik_2a uo₁
???????? y�₃ pi_3a yan_3b tshou_3b men₁ dzy�ng₃ huo₁
???????, gh�u_3b sy�ng₃ nyen_3b ka₂ trok₂ d�₁ uk_1b
???????? uk_1b t�i₄ dat₁ kwan₁ ts�u₁ b�_3by ghuo₁
???????, kem_3x pan_3by tw�n₁ tsyat_3b k�u_3b m�₂ s�_3c
???????? kwet₁ nyuk_3b p�u_3b tek₁ dung_1b dri_3b khuo_3c
???????, au_3y gh�₂ p�u₁ kwat₄ tsheing₄ san₁ ghuo₁
???????? kh�₁ lan₄ ghwang₃ swen₁ khep_3x lu�₁ nguo_3c
???????, m�n_3a tsyi_3d p�u_3b kh�ng₁ d�u₁ s�ing_3b meing_3b
???????? d�n₁ d�u₁ khw�n₁ khu�₁ khet_3a ghwi_3bx nuo₁
???????, y�_3d keing₄ peik_2a nyet_3b tshw�n₁ keing_3a kek₃
???????? syen_3b dzy�ng₃ muo_3c gh�u_3b ghwan₁ ki_3cx puo_3c
???????, kau₁ t�i₄ ts�_3d swen₁ dz�n_3b lung_3b tsyw�n_3b
???????? lung_3c tsy�ng_3c dz�_3c yu�_3b dzyang₃ nyen_3b dzyuo_3c
???????, dzrei_2b lang₁ dz�i_1a ep_3x lung_3c dz�i_1a y�₃
???????? ghwang₃ swen₁ dzy�n_3b p�u₁ tshan₄ kem_3x khuo_3c
???????, p�u_3b k�m_1b drang₃ ngu�_3b lem₃ kau₂ guo_3c
???????? tsh�₃ ghw�_3bx ghwang₃ swen₁ lep₃ si_3b suo_3c
???????, dzak₁ y�₃ tung_1b pung_3b tshywi_3b hwat₄ seing₄
???????? tung_1b lei_1a thak₁ de₁ m�n₁ g�u_3b tuo₁
???????, srok₂ pang₃ g�n_3a nyi_3b h�u₁ syen_3b sy�u_3b
???????? seik_3b ghe₁ y�ng_3c dw�i_1b kem_3x ghe₁ nguo_3c
???????, tshat₄ men_3a than₄ ts�_3d y�_3d drwan_3b ghw�_3cx
???????? sy�ing_3b tek₁ pek₁ buk_3b nam_1a dzyan_3b ghuo_3c
???????, hwa₂ men₁ li_3d m�n_3by tsh�ing_3b swat_3b thr�_3d
???????? dzy�n_3b met_3a tshywet_3b kh�u₁ the₁ nyen_3b tshuo_3b
???????, ei_1a tsei_1a ghwang₃ swen₁ dzy�n_3b met_3a sruo_3b
???????? ngu�₁ leng₃ kei_2a kh�_3a muo_3c dzyi_3d muo_3c