<p>穷 shouldn't be taken literally as <em>poverty</em>, instead, it is figurative <em>exhaustion of one's talent; reaching the limit of one's capability</em>. Also I am not sure 振 necessarily means <em>becoming well-known</em>, it could be simply <em>hanging on steadily</em>.</p>

<p>Without further context I would interpret the sentence as</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The poetry he wrote showed no sign of exhaustion, why didn't he keep going?</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-22T11:10:54.197Z
Thank you! This is in a 詩話 so something along those lines make sense, except it is preceded by a senior minister putting his name in the Hongmunrok, which was the list of the most virtuous literati in Joseon. 
_Therewith, he noted him in the Hongmunrok. But after a while he fell ill and died._
遂與於弘文錄。未幾病逝。
That's why I thought 振 must be well-known or related to the fact that he never got promoted.
jeongin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-22T10:13:11.520Z
2016-01-22T10:13:11.520Z
NS.X.
<p>more Joseon dynasty classical Chinese.</p>

<p><em>In the poetry he had written, in the end, there was no attitude of poverty. How was it he never became well-known?</em></p>

<p>其所爲詩絶無窮態。竟不振。何哉。</p>

<p>Does this make sense? Can it be more loosely translated as this person's poetry was really good, or something like that?</p>

<classical-chinese><traditional-characters><poetry><literature>
"There was no attitude of poverty in his poetry" 絶無窮態
# "There was no attitude of poverty in his poetry" 絶無窮態

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-01-22)

more Joseon dynasty classical Chinese.

*In the poetry he had written, in the end, there was no attitude of poverty. How was it he never became well-known?*

其所爲詩絶無窮態。竟不振。何哉。

Does this make sense? Can it be more loosely translated as this person's poetry was really good, or something like that?

**Tags:** classical-chinese, traditional-characters, poetry, literature


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-01-22. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

穷 shouldn't be taken literally as *poverty*, instead, it is figurative *exhaustion of one's talent; reaching the limit of one's capability*. Also I am not sure 振 necessarily means *becoming well-known*, it could be simply *hanging on steadily*.

Without further context I would interpret the sentence as

> The poetry he wrote showed no sign of exhaustion, why didn't he keep going?

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you! This is in a 詩話 so something along those lines make sense, except it is preceded by a senior minister putting his name in the Hongmunrok, which was the list of the most virtuous literati in Joseon.  _Therewith, he noted him in the Hongmunrok. But after a while he fell ill and died._ 遂與於弘文錄。未幾病逝。 That's why I thought 振 must be well-known or related to the fact that he never got promoted.  

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