Emperor Xuanzong formally grieves Confucius

In the courtly style

Sombre Thoughts at the Sacrifices to Confucius as I Pass through Lu
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang

Confucius moved from state to state teaching his way. His contemporaries questioned what he was doing.
    How restlessly you’d come; how soon you’d leave—
    A life in motion, post to pillar.
    What was your purpose, master, to achieve?

Though Confucius was born in a town named Zou, he made his home was Qufu, in the state of Lu. When later rulers tried to alter the house, it resisted their efforts supernaturally.
    You came from Zou; your home in Lu has been
    A palace, and has long outlasted
    The span of each ephemeral regime.

Confucius saw the lack of mystic creatures as a sign of his debased times; the one reported sighting of a unicorn ended with the animal being shot by hunters.
    No phoenix would appear for you to see,
    And when a unicorn was slaughtered,
    You mourned the end of your philosophy.

In despair, Confucius dreamed of his own wake, seeing himself laid out for funeral offerings between the two front pillars of his house.
    Today I find you, Master, in between
    Two columns, taking sacrifices,
    As you foreshadowed in your fatal dream.

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Written relatively early in the reign of Xuanzong (685-762, reigned 712-756), this poem is in the courtly style that the great Tang poets rebelled against. It consists only of a series of allusions to bits of history that the poet expects his listeners to know. There is no personal reflection, or narrative, or tricks of parallelism, or interesting phonic effects.

The poetry in works like these comes from the allusions and stories. To reproduce the feel of the poem, the translator has little choice but to provide this information. Obviously this means that modern readers will miss out on the poetic experience of making the connections for themselves, but there doesn’t seem to be any way to bridge that gap.

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唐玄宗  经邹鲁祭孔子而叹之

夫子何为者，栖栖一代中。

地犹鄹氏邑，宅即鲁王宫。

叹凤嗟身否，伤麟怨道穷。

今看两楹奠，当与梦时同。