李贺

Ballad of the Frontier Guard at Yanmen Pass

by Li He

Dark clouds press against the city as if it will collapse,

Armor gleams in sunlight like golden scales opening.

Battle horns resounding all over the autumn sky,

At the frontier rouge turns to deep night-purple.

A half-rolled crimson banner hangs above the Yi River,

Heavy frost chills the drums that sound dull and low.

To return your Majesty's favor bestowed from the Golden Platform,

With Yulong sword in hand I will fight to death for you.

【詩人簡介】李贺（790年—816年），字长吉，河南府福昌县昌谷乡（今属河南省宜阳县）人，祖籍陇西郡，唐朝宗室郑王李亮后裔。世称“李昌谷”，唐朝中期浪漫主义诗人。 李贺自幼聪颖，七岁能辞章，十五岁工乐府，与李益齐名。元和二年（807年），李贺往洛阳谒韩愈。韩愈、皇甫湜曾一同回访，李贺写了有名的《高轩过》。元和五年（810年）冬，李贺科场求仕，与李贺争名者以其父名晋肃，“晋”“进”同音为由，认为他应避讳，不得应举。元和六年（811年），经宗人荐引，以门荫授太常寺奉礼郎。元和九年（814年) ，李贺辞去奉礼郎，赴潞州（今山西长治）依友人张彻。元和十一年（816年），回昌谷，同年病逝，终年二十七岁。 李贺是中唐到晚唐诗风转变期的代表者，与李白、李商隐并称为“唐代三李”。他所写的诗大多是感叹生不逢时和倾诉内心苦闷，抒发对理想、抱负的追求；对当时藩镇割据、宦官专权和人民所受的残酷剥削也都有所反映。他的诗作想象极为丰富，经常应用神话传说来托古寓今，所以后人常称他为“鬼才”“诗鬼”，称其创作的诗文为“鬼仙之辞”。有“太白仙才，长吉鬼才”之说。李贺是继屈原、李白之后，中国文学史上又一位颇享盛誉的浪漫主义诗人。留下了“黑云压城城欲摧”、“雄鸡一声天下白”、“天若有情天亦老”等千古佳句。 上海古籍出版社出版有《李贺诗歌集注》。

Introduction to the poet:

Li He (790–816), courtesy name Changji, was a native of Changgu Township, Fuchang County, Henan Prefecture (present-day Yiyang County, Henan Province). His ancestral home was in Longxi Commandery, and he was a descendant of Prince Zheng, Li Liang, of the Tang imperial clan. Known to later generations as “Li of Changgu,” he was a romantic poet of the mid-Tang dynasty.

Gifted from childhood, Li He was already able to compose essays at the age of seven, and by fifteen was skilled in the yuefu (ballad-style poetry), becoming as renowned as Li Yi. In the second year of the Yuanhe era (807), Li He went to Luoyang to visit Han Yu. Han Yu and Huangfu Shi later paid a return visit, during which Li He composed his famous poem "High Carriage Passing By".

In the winter of the fifth year of Yuanhe (810), Li He sought advancement through the imperial examinations. However, rivals argued that because his father’s name was Jinsu (晋肃), and since the character “Jin” (晋) was pronounced the same as “Jin” (进, “to advance”), he should be barred from sitting the exam on grounds of name taboo. In the sixth year of Yuanhe (811), through the recommendation of a kinsman, he was appointed Gentleman Attendant at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices by hereditary privilege. In the ninth year of Yuanhe (814), he resigned from this post and went to Luzhou (modern Changzhi, Shanxi) to rely on his friend Zhang Che. In the eleventh year of Yuanhe (816), he returned to Changgu, but died the same year at the young age of twenty-seven.

Li He was a representative figure in the transformation of Tang poetry from the mid to late Tang period. Together with Li Bai and Li Shangyin, he was honored as one of the “Three Li's of the Tang Dynasty.” His poems often lamented being born into the wrong time and expressed inner anguish, while also voicing his pursuit of ideals and ambitions. They reflected the political fragmentation of military governors, the dominance of eunuchs, and the cruel exploitation suffered by the people. Rich in imagination, his works frequently employed myths and legends to draw parallels between past and present. For this reason, later generations called him a “ghostly talent” and a “Poet of Ghosts,” and described his poetry as the “words of an immortal ghost.” There was a saying: “Li Bai, the immortal talent; Li He, the ghostly talent.”

After Qu Yuan and Li Bai, Li He is regarded as another celebrated romantic poet in Chinese literary history. He left behind many immortal lines, such as: “Dark clouds press against the city as if it will collapse,” “At the crow of the rooster, all under heaven grows bright,” and “If Heaven had feelings, it too would grow old.”

The Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House published the 《Annotated Collection of Li He’s Poetry》.