Tao Qian, "Drinking, Twenty Poems"

饮 酒 二 十 首 并 序 Preface to the "Drinking, Twenty Poems"
　　
余闲居寡欢，兼比夜已长，偶有名酒，无夕不饮。顾影独尽，忽焉复醉。既醉之後，辄题数句自娱。纸墨遂多，辞无诠次。聊命故人书之，以为欢笑尔。

I reside in leisure with few pleasures. Recently the nights have grown long. I happened to have good ale; there is never a night without drinking. Looking after my shadow, I finish alone, and then suddenly I'm once again drunk. And after I'm drunk, I come up with several verses to amuse myself. Paper and ink follow along, lots of both, yet the words lack any explanation or sequence. In jest, I ordered a good friend to write them out, to please us and make us laugh.

1.

Decline and bloom have no certain place,
That one, this one exchange and share it.
Shao grew melons in fields midst,
Prefer to resemble the Dongling times!
Cold and heat have their times of alternation,
The Way of humans is always like this.
The comprehending person dissects this concept,
Passing away with it no longer will suspect,
Suddenly he's with his bucket of ale,
At dusk of day pleased with it, holding it.

其一∶
衰荣无定在，彼此更共之。
邵生瓜田中，宁似东陵时！
寒暑有代谢，人道每如兹。
达人解其会，逝将不复疑；
忽与一樽酒，日夕欢相持。

Roost after roost, the bird still lost from the flock
The sun sets but, still alone, it flies,
Back and forth, no certain place to stop.
Night after night, the cries turn sorrowful.
A piercing noise, missing the clear distance.
Going and coming, reluctant, ambivalent.

So it was, that, meeting a lone growing pine,
It folds back its wings, coming back, returning.
No morning glories in this stiff wind,
But this shade, alone, never will decline.
Project the body: it already has what it needs.
Wouldn't part with it in a thousand years.

其四
栖栖失群鸟，日暮犹独飞。 徘徊无定止，夜夜声转悲。
厉响思清远，去来何依依。 因值孤生松，敛翮遥来归。
劲风无荣木，此荫独不衰。 托身已得所，千载不相违

I corrected my first translation against A.R. Davis' (p. 95) and began reading Davis' translation of all 20 poems. But besides the poems, the prose style of this preface is extremely interesting. It comes in quick, clipped sentences with often only implied paratactic structures, and I've tried to reproduce that here. I need to learn to translate this style in such a way as to minimize parataxis while at the same time keeping the thing readable. Maybe I should read more Hemingway.

I next corrected my version of number 4 against Davis (p. 96). It was exhausting, comparing back and forth.

More glosses of interest:

逝将 : (found under 逝 alone): def 7: 通“誓”。表决心 [vow] 逝将去女,适彼乐土。——《诗·魏风·硕鼠》def 8: 又如:逝将(即誓将)