喜雨歌赠姚炼师
今年大旱值丙子，赤土不止一万里。
米珠薪桂水如汞，天下苍生半游鬼。
南山北山云不生，白田如纸无人耕。
吾生政坐沟壑叹，况有狼虎白日行。
大官小官人父母，杀犬屠牛事何苟？
南风日日吹太空，旱魃徒勤城南妇。
炼师一出役万灵，绿章上扣天帝庭。
乞得秋阴三日雨，洗濯山泽回余青。
老农额手喜复叹，点点都是盘中饭。
雨我公田及我私，免得残年坐涂炭。
老农所见愚又愚，拜师更乞天雨珠。
雨珠饮彼残暴腹，庶几活我东南隅。
我方热恼岩壑底，眨眼忽听雷过耳。
起来发歌登大楼，长江大河都是水。
In the year of Ding Zicheng (a certain year in Chinese calendar), there was a severe drought that affected the entire land. The red soil stretched for over ten thousand miles, with a severe lack of water.
Rice was as precious as pearls, and fuel like a precious herb; water was like mercury in scarcity. Half of the people in the world were struggling to survive, wandering like ghosts. The clouds did not appear in the mountains, whether in the south or north, and the fields were white, devoid of life, like empty paper.
As I sat in poverty, groaning about my fate, considering how the harsh realities of life are even more daunting than roaming tigers and wolves in daylight, the high and low officials, as parents themselves, were indulging in frivolous spending by killing dogs and cows without restraint.
The south wind blew continuously through the vast sky, but the旱魃 (an evil spirit that causes drought) mocked the efforts of the devoted women in the city. When the master of ceremony summoned all the spirits, with a green document presented to the court of Heaven, we prayed for just three days of autumn rain to cleanse our mountains and rivers and restore a little green back into them.
The old farmers would joyfully exclaim and then exclaim again when they saw such raindrops falling. Each drop is precious food on our plates. Let it rain on both my public fields and my private land so that we may avoid hardship during our later years.
Looking at their genuine enthusiasm, I was foolishly moved too, so I approached these experienced farmers for help and beseeched raindrops from Heaven. Let these raindrops nourish those cruel hearts and hopefully bring life to our region in the southeast corner of China.
As I sat angrily in a crevice of rock feeling quite annoyed, suddenly I heard thunder claps in my ears while I blinked. Then I stood up to sing a song on a high tower, realizing that all rivers and oceans are made of water.
《喜雨歌赠姚炼师》一诗，以生动的笔触描绘了当年大旱的惨状与雨后重生的喜悦，深刻体现了诗人对民生疾苦的关切以及对神秘力量的向往，同时也展现了姚炼师的神奇法术与慈悲心怀。
开篇即以“今年大旱值丙子，赤土不止一万里”直击人心，将读者瞬间带入那片广阔无垠、焦枯裂土的荒芜景象中。紧接着，“米珠薪桂水如汞，天下苍生半游鬼”，通过夸张的手法，描绘了旱灾之下物价飞涨、民不聊生的悲惨局面，让人不禁为之一叹。而“南山北山云不生，白田如纸无人耕”，则进一步渲染了干旱的严重程度，连天空中的云彩都消失无踪，田地荒芜如同白纸，一片死寂。
在这样的背景下，诗人不禁发出“吾生政坐沟壑叹，况有狼虎白日行”的感慨，既表达了对自身命运的无奈，也揭示了社会秩序的混乱，暗示着人吃人的残酷现实。随后，诗人对官员们的无能与奢靡生活提出批评，“大官小官人父母，杀犬屠牛事何苟”，讽刺他们不顾百姓死活，只顾自己享乐。
然而，就在绝望之际，姚炼师出现了。“炼师一出役万灵，绿章上扣天帝庭”，他以超凡脱俗的能力，向天帝祈求甘霖，终于“乞得秋阴三日雨，洗濯山泽回余青”。这场雨，不仅滋润了干涸的大地，更带来了生命的希望，让“老农额手喜复叹，点点都是盘中饭”。这里，老农的喜悦之情溢于言表，每一滴雨都如同珍贵的粮食，承载着他们对生活的渴望与珍惜。
但老农的愿望并未止步于此，他甚至异想天开地希望姚炼师能“更乞天雨珠”，用这神奇的雨珠去填饱那些残暴之人的肚子，以此拯救东南一带的百姓。这一情节，既体现了老农的纯真与善良，也隐含了对社会不公的控诉与期盼改变的愿望。
最后，诗人以自身经历收尾，“我方热恼岩壑底，眨眼忽听雷过耳。起来发歌登大楼，长江大河都是水。”从个人的苦闷中解脱出来，伴随着雷鸣雨至，诗人登上高楼，眼前豁然开朗，长江大河波涛汹涌，仿佛预示着新的开始与无限的希望。
整首诗情感真挚，语言质朴而不失力度，通过对比与象征，深刻揭示了人与自然、人与社会的关系，以及对超自然力量的敬畏与向往。姚炼师的形象，成为了人们心中希望的象征，而雨后的重生，则是对未来美好愿景的无限憧憬。