閨怨 王昌齡

閨怨      王昌齡 (698-756)
閨中少婦不知愁，春日凝妝上翠樓。
忽見陌頭楊柳色，悔教夫婿覓封侯。 

Boudoir sorrows           Wang Changling (698-756)
A young lady knows nothing about sorrows in her boudoir,
On a spring day dressing up elegantly she mounts a verdantly garnished tower,
Presently she beholds the flourishing willows in full vernal colours,
So deeply chagrined she is at having urged her husband to go seeking imperial honours.   

 

落花 朱淑真

落花      朱淑真(宋)

連理枝頭花正開，妒花風雨便相催。
願教青帝常為主，莫遣紛紛點翠臺。

Fallen blossoms           (Song Poet)

A twin blossom is booming on its spray,

Comes ferociously a jealous storm towards its way,
I wish the god of spring could as usual save the day,
Let not the colourful petals mess up the green moss around the place.

 

江雪 柳宗元

江雪       柳宗元 (773-818)    

千山鳥飛絕，萬徑人蹤滅。
孤舟蓑笠翁，獨釣寒江雪。  

A River in the Snow              Liu Zongyuan (773-818)

Not a single bird is to be seen in the surrounding hills,

Nor any human soul on their myriad trails comes in view,
A solitary straw-caped fisherman in his desolate skiff,
Takes pleasure in fishing alone over the freezing river in the chills.

 

古柏行 杜甫

古柏行       杜甫 (712 - 770 )

孔明廟前有老柏，柯如青銅根如石。

霜皮溜雨四十圍，黛色參天二千尺。
君臣已與時際會，樹木猶為人愛惜。
雲來氣接巫峽長，月出寒通雪山白。
憶昨路繞錦亭東，先主武侯同閟宮。
崔嵬枝幹郊原古，窈窕丹青戶牖空。
落落盤據雖得地，冥冥孤高多烈風。
扶持自是神明力，正直元因造化功。
大廈如傾要梁棟，萬牛迴首邱山重。
不露文章世已驚，未辭剪伐誰能送。
苦心豈免容螻蟻，香葉終經宿鸞鳳。
志士幽人莫怨嗟，古來材大難為用。

 

Ballad of the Old Cypress               Du Fu (712 - 770 )

In front of the temple of Zhuge Liang there is an old cypress,

Its roots are like rocks and its branches bronze,
Its rimy rain-washed bark on its great girth measures forty spans,
Two thousand feet into the heaven its jet-coloured top rises,
King and statesman had long fulfilled their historical missions,
But it continues to be fondly cherished,
When the clouds come, vapours extend its spread to join the long Wu Gorge’s mists,
As the moon rises, the cypress chills merge with the Snowy Mountain’s whiteness,
I remember a year or so ago, to the east of the Brocade River pavilion where the road bypassed,
In the same shrine where the First Ruler and Zhuge Liang were vested,
On the ancient plain outside the city there were also high-rising cypresses,
The paint-work of the dark interior sulked through desolated doors and windows,
But this cypress, firmly holding the ground with coil-like grasps,
Rises solitarily into the gloomy sky withholding the fierce blasts,
Nothing could have kept it standing for so long but the power of Divine Providence,
Its uprightness must be the work of the Creative forces’ synergies,
If pillars and beams are needed should a great hall collapse,
Ten thousand oxen might turn their heads wondering what a mountain of albatross,
Without a craftsman’s garnish, it has already had the world stand aghast,
No one could ever carry it away if it were felled, yet the axe it has never refused,
From the ants its bitter heart could not have got loose,
On its scented leaves phoenixes always roost,
Man of ambition need not deplore if you are still living in obscurity,
From of old the really great have never been easy in finding their uses.

歸嵩山作 王維

歸嵩山作      王維 (701 -761)

清川帶長薄，車馬去閑閑。
流水如有意，暮禽相與還。
荒城臨古渡，落日滿秋山。
迢遞嵩高下，歸來且閉關。

On my way back to Song Shan         Wang Wei (701 -761)

The clear stream carries a long stretch of shrub plantations,

I ride my carriage leisurely in great relaxation,,
The flowing waters seem to understand my aspiration,
Even the evening homing birds treat me with affection;
The ancient jetty lies adjacent to the dilapidated bastion,
The setting sun flushes over the autumn mountains,
It’s been a long way coming back to the slopes of Song Shan,
Hereafter I can live in quiet reclusion.

 

 

月夜 杜甫

月夜      杜甫 (712 - 770 )
今夜鄜州月，閨中只獨看，
遙憐小兒女，未解憶長安。
香霧雲鬞濕，清輝玉臂寒。
何時倚虛幌？雙照淚痕乾。

Moonlit Night          Du Fu  (712 - 770 )

Tonight in Fuzhou the moon will be waxed and bright,

My wife will be watching it on her own without delight,
My poor little ones, still child-like,
Know not to pine for their solitary fond father away in Chang’an out of sight,
My wife’s soft hair must have been moistened by the scented mists of the night,
Her ivory arms must feel the chills of the moonlight,
When can we lean on the open window together side by side,
And gaze at the moon till our tear traces disappear outright?

 

 

回鄉偶書 賀知章

回鄉偶書      賀知章 (659-744)
少小離家老大回，鄉音無改鬢毛催。

兒童相見不相識，笑問客從何處來。

Back in my homeland           He Zhizhang (659-744)

Having left my homeland when I was young now I return as a gaffer,

Despite my age told by my temple hair my native accent remains as ever,

To the children I meet I am a total stranger,

They just ask nicely whence comes this outlander.

 

 

菩薩蠻 辛棄疾

菩薩蠻  書江西造口壁      辛棄疾 (1140-1207)

鬱孤台下清江水， 中間多少行人淚？
西北望長安，可憐無數山。
青山遮不住，畢竟東流去！
江晚正愁余，山深聞鷓鴣。

 

Pu Sa Man   Written on a wall at Zaokou in the province of Jiangxi     Xin Qiji (1140-1207)

The raving waters of Ganjiang beneath the Yugu Tower
Roll with loads of wayfarers’ tears,
Looking northwest to Chang’an,
I behold countless mountain ranges;
Ineluctably all these mountains can’t stop the eastbound draining of the river;
Fretted by heavy anguish beside the river in the hazy vesper,
Mournful cries of the francolins from deep in the vales reach my ears.

 

遊子吟 孟郊

遊子吟    孟郊 (751-814)

慈母手中線，遊子身上衣；

臨行密密縫，意恐遲遲歸。
誰言寸草心，報得三春暉？

A Wayfarer’s Song      Meng Jiao (751-814)

All the threads the loving mother engages,

Go into her wayfaring son’s new array,
Fearing that he’ll be too long away,
Ere he leaves she keeps sewing all the day,
How can this little piece of grass ever repay
The spring sun’s great grace?

 

 

金縷衣 杜秋娘

金縷衣      杜秋娘 (唐)      
勸君莫惜金縷衣，勸君惜取少年時。

花開堪折直須折，莫待無花空折枝。

The Gold-Threaded Array          Du Qiuniang (Tang Poet)

Cherish not the gold-threaded array,
Cherish only your golden young age,
Pick the flower in the prime of its day,
It’s meaningless to pick a bare spray.

麗人行 杜甫

麗人行      杜甫 (712 - 770 )
三月三日天氣新，長安水邊多麗人。

態濃意遠淑且真，肌理細膩骨肉勻。

繡羅衣裳照暮春，蹙金孔雀銀麒麟。
頭上何所有？翠微闔葉垂鬢唇。
背後何所見？珠壓腰衱穩稱身。
就中雲幕椒房親，賜名大國虢與秦。
紫駝之峰出翠釜，水精之盤行素鱗。
犀箸厭飫久未下，鸞刀縷切空紛綸。
黃門飛鞚不動塵，御廚絡繹送八珍。
簫鼓哀吟感鬼神，賓從雜遝實要津。
後來鞍馬何逡巡，當軒下馬入錦茵。
楊花雪落覆白蘋，青鳥飛去銜紅巾。
炙手可熱勢絕倫，慎莫近前丞相瞋！

Ballad of Lovely Women            Du Fu (712 - 770 )

On the third day of the third month, the weather is fresh, brisk and festivity laden,
By the watersides of Chang’an there are many a lovely woman,
Their looks gorgeous, captivating and elegant,
Their aloof deportment exudes real refinement,
Their complexions delicate and their figures in delicately proportional elements,
Their embroidered silk dresses glister in the late spring open,
Setting off the peacocks in gold thread and unicorns in silver thread passements,
What do they wear on their heads?
Emerald feather jewellery reaching down to the edges of their hair-fronts,
What do we see at their backs?
Skirts of pearl nets, fitting perfectly their exquisite measurements,
Among them are the relatives of the Mistress of the Cloud Curtains and the Pepper-flower Apartments,
Ladies crowned with the names of great states, Guo and Qin;
Purple camel humps emerge from green cauldrons,
Fish with glinting scale are served on crystal patens,
Chopsticks of rhino-horn, sated with abandon, remain unmoved in reluctance,
The belled knife cutting these thread-like slices has wasted its busy vain motions,
Palace eunuchs gallop up in rapid succession,
Bringing delicacies from the imperial kitchen,
The flying hooves of their horses never seem to have touched the dust for a second;
Now, amidst music mournful enough to move even deities from fifes and drums,
Surrounded by a shoal of followers and minions,
What a man of hubris this last rider who comes pacing in high arrogance,
At the balustrade surrounding the pavilion, he dismounts and sits amid the diners on the carpet with fancy patterns,
The willow-down falls like snow over the white water-weed in its settlement,
A blue bird flies off bearing a lady’s red handkerchief in its rostrum,
Unequalled by any other, he is a man who wields power that would burn your hand at any moment,
Do keep clear, least you would provoke the Chief Minister’s dudgeon.

 

 

 

涼州詞 王翰

涼州詞      王翰 (唐)   

葡萄美酒夜光杯，欲飲琵琶馬上催。
醉臥沙場君莫笑，古來征戰幾人回。

A Liangzhou Verse       Wang Han (Tang Poet)

The fine wine in the luminous jade goblet is simply irresistible,

Already on horseback, marching orders keep urging me to go,
I must have a quaff at it though,
Hoping it will make me bold,
If I lie drunken in the battlefield, don’t find me jestful,
How many people can return alive in wars from of old.
 

 

 

 

 

遣懷 杜牧

遣懷            杜牧(803-852)   

落魄江湖載酒行，楚腰纖細掌中輕。

十年一覺揚州夢，贏得青樓薄倖名。

 

Speaking my bosom            Du Mu (803-852)   

Fallen and wretched, I’ve been on the tramp with only my wine to drown my bale,

I am always attracted to petite and slim-waist belles,
Now, awakened from my ten-year Yangzhou dream, only to tell
I’ve only been dubbed “the philanderer” among the bordels.

 

 

 

歸園田居五首(其二) 陶淵明

歸園田居五首(其二)      陶淵明 (365-427)

野外罕人事，窮巷寡輪鞅。

白日掩荊扉，虛室絕塵想。

時復墟曲中，披草共來往。
相見無雜言，但道桑麻長。
桑麻日已長，我土日已廣。
常恐霜霰至，零落同草莽。


Retreating to a rustic life (Poem No. 2)
Tao Yuanming (365-427)
 Human businesses are rare in these far-flung villages,
So are commuting horses and carriages
In broad daylight, behind my closed wicker door,
I abstain from bothering myself with any worldly causes,
At times, I’ll visit the village marketplace,
Meet my neighbours all clad in straw capes,
We chat about nothing,
Except how our flaxes and mulberries are thriving,
As my flaxes and mulberries thrive day by day,
My fields expand in scale,
Of one thing I am most afraid,
When frost and hail come, all I grow will wilt like hay.