詩帖 4 Poems

【作者介紹】

蘇過（1072年－1123年），北宋文學家、官員，字叔黨，號斜川居士，眉州眉山縣（今四川省眉山市）人。

Inside Story

The beginning of the letter was a poem Su Kuo wrote for Yuanfu to. admire Yuanfu’ loyalty and virtue that deserved to pass on for generations. The rest of the letter included four poems. The first one stated that a good poem deserved being read by everyone; the second one talked about that it was hard to find good officers because they had spread out to other places, some were getting old, some were sick and some were deceased. Although they had accomplished great achievements, all vanished in the end. The third poem described beautiful landscape, but Su Kuo sighed for the evils hidden inside one’s heart. The last poem described the desolate scenery he saw while going horseback riding in the countryside. He had lots of thought in his mind but there was no one whom he could share with.