O, Hard Road, Hard Road
Good morning! Today I just wanted to share with you a quick poem that resonated with me the other day called “The Hard Road" (行路難).
It was written by Li Bai (李白) - a poet who lived during the Tang Dynasty in 742.
In particular, I’m enamored by the last verse of the poem in which he says:
行路難！行路難！
O, Hard Road, Hard Road
多歧路，今安在？
Everywhere there are hard rugged roads! Where I’m at now? Where I can rest?
長風破浪會有時，
Steady wind breaks the waves, that should happen
直掛雲帆濟滄海。
Full sail into the clouds, to calm the troubled oceans!
Sometimes in life, if we just hang on for long enough, the storm will pass and the skies will be clear again.
Have a read of the full poem below, enjoy!
金樽清酒鬥十千，玉盤珍羞直萬錢。
停杯投箸不能食，拔劍四顧心茫然。
欲渡黃河冰塞川，將登太行雪滿山。
閒來垂釣碧溪上，忽復乘舟夢日邊。
行路難！行路難！多歧路，今安在？
長風破浪會有時，直掛雲帆濟滄海。
Gold cup and ten liter pure wine for ten thousand coins
jade platter served delicacies worth ten thousands too
but I put down the cup, drop the chopsticks, got no appetite
I draw my sword and look at surrounding blankly
Try to sail across the Yellow River
but ice seals its surface
Try to climb The Great Column Mount
but snow blankets everywhere
Or relax, drop a line fishing above the lime creek
But all of a sudden I again dream myself in a boat
rocking by the sun side
O, Hard Road, Hard Road
Everywhere there are hard rugged roads!
Where I’m at now? Where I can rest?
Steady wind breaks the waves, that should happen
Full sail into the clouds, to calm the troubled oceans!