春夜 王安石

春夜        王安石(1021-1086)

金爐香盡漏聲殘，翦翦輕風陣陣寒。

春色惱人眠不得，月移花影上欄杆。  

A Spring Night      Wang Anshi (1021-1086)

Incense in the golden burner burns out while the water clock drips to nil,

The whistlong whistling breezes bring with them chills after chills,
The irksome spring leaves me lying sleeplessly still,
To watch the moon climb slowly up to bring the flower shadows over the balustrade into my view.

城東早春 楊巨源

城東早春       楊巨源(唐)

詩家清景在新春，綠柳纔黃半未勻。  

若待上林花似錦，出門俱是看花人。  

 

Early spring in the city east     Yang Juyuan (Tang Poet)

Bards are expecting to see new sceneries in the new spring teeming with fascinating splendour,

Fresh willows are still yellowy green but not yet taken on full verdure,
When blossoms in the imperial gardens bloom in enthralling glamour,
Places will be thronged with people vying to admire the myriad ravishing vernal flowers.

梅花 林逋

梅花      林逋(967-1028)

眾芳搖落獨暄妍，占斷風情向小園。

疏影橫斜水清淺，暗香浮動月黃昏。
霜禽欲下先偷眼，粉蝶如知合斷魂。
幸有微吟可相狎，不須檀板共金樽。

The Plum Blossom         Lin Bu (967-1028)

She still struts with elan vital while all rival flowers have wilted,

Her charisma secures her supremacy over all other blossoms in view,
Shadows she casts on the shallow limpid water are scattered and askew,
Whiffs of fragrance floating in the moonlight have the whole place aromatically veiled,
Before coming down to join her, the immaculate white crane would over her a quick glance steal,
The butterflies should have their souls ravished if they know such a heavenly blossom is real,
Fortunate am I to have concocted a poem to hail her with a will,
Therein I can do without the clapper music and the wine to chant aloud my admiration for her celestial build.

打毬圖 鼂無咎

打毬圖        鼂無咎(宋)

閶闔千門萬戶開，三郎沈醉打球回。
九齡已老韓休死，無復明朝諫疏來。

Football Playing        Chao Wujiu (Song Poet)

The myriad doors of the palace are all wide open,

Comes the Supreme Third Prince intoxicated and sated with lots of football fun,
Premiers Zhang Jiuling is already decrepit and Han Xiu defunct,
Tomorrow no more admonishing memorials will come.

清明 王禹偁

清明       王禹偁 (954-1001)

無花無酒過清明，興味蕭然似野僧。

昨日鄰家乞新火，曉窗分與讀書燈。

Ching Ming Festival        Wang Yucheng (954-1001)

A Ching Ming Festival passed by with flowers and wine I’ve had none,

I feel as unpalatable as a wayfaring monk,
Yesterday I begged a neighbor who has got new cooking fire to share with me some,
So at dawn I can light up my lamp and study under my casement,
The normal daily work of a poor young scholar has thus begun.

 

 

插花吟 邵雍

插花吟 　    邵雍(1011-1077)

頭上花枝照酒巵， 酒巵中有好花枝 。

身經兩世太平日， 眼見四朝全盛時 。
況復筋骸粗康健， 那堪時節正芳菲 。
酒涵花影紅光溜， 爭忍花前不醉歸 。

On sticking a blossom spray         Shao Yong (1011-1077)

The spray of blossom I stick in my hair,

Presently its image comes alive in the wine of the goblet as I am ready to take a liquor,
The charming blossom adorns not only my hair,
It brings the goblet life and glamour;
It’s been sixty years of peace I’ve covered,
Four imperial eras of prosperity I’ve fortunately encountered,
My body is still robust and bursting with vigour,
Now the season is gleaming with spendour,
With all these ravishing blossoms and fine wine for me to savour,
How can I give up drinking and stay sober.

 

 

時世行 杜荀鶴

時世行      杜荀鶴 (846-904)

夫因兵亂守蓬茅，麻苧裙衫鬢髮焦。

桑柘廢來猶納稅，田園荒盡尚征苗。
時挑野菜和根煮，旋砍生柴帶葉燒。
任是深山最深處，也應無計避征徭。

Turbulent Difficult Times        Du Xunhe (846-904)

For the military unrests men shut themselves up in their hovels,

Women toil away everywhere to make ends meet in hempen dresses with their hair shriveled,
Mulberry growing and silk-worm farming are left to dwindle, but government duties are unshirkable,
No harvest from unploughed fields means no money for government levy to settle,
At times they have to feed on wild herbs with roots as staple,
They just burn any wild wood casually cut with leaves as cooking fuel,
However deep in the mountain one withholds,
One can never avoid the levy government corrals,

 

 

感遇四首(四) 張九齡

感遇四首(四)     張九齡 (678-740)

江南有丹橘，經冬猶綠林。
豈伊地氣暖，自有歲寒心。
可以薦嘉客，奈何阻重深。
運命惟所遇，循環不可尋。
徒言樹桃李，此木豈無陰。

On one’s fare (Poem No. 4)           Zhang Jiuling (678-740)

South of the Great River there is a tree called the red tangerine,

Even after the bitter winter it maintains its green,
Is it for the warmth of the land that it survives the scathing winds?
Or it has the ability to withstand the extreme;
It can be offered to the noblesse supreme,
If not for the wicked ones’ ulterior schemes,
Fortune is not what can be foreseen,
It comes and goes at its own whims,
People who just love planting plums and peaches,
Do not know what they have lost therein.

 

 

感遇四首(三) 張九齡

感遇四首(三)     張九齡 (678-740)

幽人歸獨臥 ，滯慮洗孤清。

持此謝高鳥 ，因之傳遠情。
日夕懷空意 ，人誰感至精。
飛沈理自隔 ，何所慰吾誠。

On one’s fare (Poem No. 3)          Zhang Jiuling (678-740)

To his recluse retreats a reserved man,

He cleanses his penned up apprehensions and lives seclusively hence,
To the high-soaring birds he thanks,
To have his lofty aspirations related to people far and wide to the full extent,
Day and night onto a vain hope he hangs,
His bona fides someday someone will truly apprehend,
Those loftily ascend will never understand those secluded at the base who choose to descend,
How’d my heart’s utmost sincerity ever be comprehended.

 

 

 

 

擕妓納涼晚際遇雨(其二) 杜甫

擕妓納涼晚際遇雨(其二)      杜甫 (712-770)

雨來沾席上，風急打船頭。
越女紅裙濕，燕姬翠黛愁。
纜侵堤柳系，幔宛浪花浮。

歸路翻蕭颯，陂塘五月秋。

Caught in the rain while relishing the evening cool with courtesans (Poem No. 2)         Du Fu (712-770)

With gusty rain beating on the feast table on board,

The rough wind blasts on the bows,
Wont to water women from the east even with their red skirts wet still uphold,
But those from the north have their brows knitted when the boat rocks and rolls;
Portieres of the boat float on the billows,
After releasing the rope tied to the bank willows,
We go home amidst rain and wind blows,
Autumnal weather in the fifth month on a small pond is as unusual as awful.

 

 

 

擕妓納涼晚際遇雨(其一) 杜甫

擕妓納涼晚際遇雨(其一)      杜甫 (712-770)

落日放船好，輕風生浪遲。
竹深留客處，荷淨納涼時。
公子調冰水，佳人雪藕絲。
片雲頭上黑，應是雨催詩。

Caught in the rain while relishing the evening cool with courtesans (Poem No. 1)          Du Fu(712-770)

It’s best setting off in a boat when the sun goes down,

With the boat sailing in mild breezes rippled water bounds,

Deep in the bamboo woods is the best place to hang around,

With whiffs of scent of fresh lotus abound,

Noblesse regaling the guests with icy drinks sufficing their thirst demands,

While lovely women keenly making julienne fresh lotus roots to go with the rounds,

Presently a dark cloud overhead surrounds,

Urging poems to be written for this scenario to go renowned.

 

 

 

田家 范成大

田家       范成大 (1126-1193)

晝出耘田夜績麻， 村莊兒女各當家；

童孫未解供耕織， 也傍桑陰學種瓜。

A farming household       Fan Chengdai (1126-1193)

At daybreak in their fields they toil,

In the evening in flax plaiting they still travail,
For every man and woman of the household each has to oneself duties to owe,
For those too young to till the fields or about plaiting nothing they know,
Will learn growing melons under the mulberries in the shadows.

 

干戈 王中

干戈         王中(宋)

干戈未定欲何之，一事無成兩鬢絲。

蹤跡大綱王粲傳，情懷小樣杜陵詩。
鶺鴒音斷雲千里，烏鵲巢寒月一枝。
安得中山千日酒，酩然直到太平時。

 

Military upheavals       Wang Zhong (Song Poet)     

Where could I repair to amid all these military unrests?

My temples are already as hoar as silk without accomplishing anything in success,
Taking after Wang Can of the Three Kingdoms for my life’s moral senses,
My ethos is to concoct poems like Du Fu of Tang in times of social turbulences;
My brothers are scattered thousands of miles away with no news from them ever getting across,
Like a solitary bird on an old tree under the chilly moon that desolately roosts,
How could I ever get hold of the thousand-day wine of Zhong Shan?
Till the day the state resumes peace I’ll stay forever under the sauce.

題榴花 朱熹

 (1130-1200)

五月榴花照眼明，枝間時見子初成。

可憐此地無車馬，顛倒蒼苔落絳英。

The Pomegranate Blossom        Zhu Hei (1130-1200)

In the fifth month the pomegranate blossom cuts a conspicuous figure of crimson glamour,

Amid the sprays early pomegranate fruits begin to appear,
What a pity visitors are scarce in this remote area,
Fallen petals are left to mess up with the moss with the beautiful blossoms uncared.

新竹 黃庭堅

新竹         黃庭堅(1045-1105)

插棘編籬謹護持，養成寒碧映漣漪。
清風掠地秋先到，赤日行天午不知。
解籜時聞聲簌簌，放梢初見影離離。
歸閒我欲頻來此，枕簟仍教到處隨。

Newly planted bamboos         Huang Tingjian(1045-1105)

Carefully arranging brambles to hedge them in barriers,

Fully grown they will carry a verdure that paints aqua viridity into limpid dimply waters,
When the breeze sweeps it seems to bring autumnal crispness early over,
At noon it will not be able to tell the sun is blazing like fire,
When bamboo shoots bust out of their sheaths they snap with crackers,
Leaves burgeoning bamboos only make shadows sparsely checkered,
With my mat and pillow, when I retire,丶
This will be my place of great repair.

傷春 楊簡

傷春      楊簡 (1141-1226)

準擬今春樂事濃，依然枉卻一東風。

年年不帶看花眼，不是愁中即病中。

Spring griefs      Yang Jian (1141-1226)

I’ve expected lots of pleasure this spring,

But again I’ve let the east wind down without relishing everything it brings,
Years come and go as if my eyes have not seen how blossoms bloom in full swing,
All these years I’ve either fallen in the dumps or been ailing.

 

 

登山 李涉

登山     李涉 (唐)

終日昏昏醉夢間，忽聞春盡強登山；

因過竹院逢僧話，又得浮生半日閒。

Up the hills           Li She (Tang Poet)

I hang around drowsily between soberness and intoxication all the day,

Spring has come to its end presently I hear people say,
So up the hill I force myself to make the way,
While passing a monkery a discourse with an old monk I engage,
Therein with half a day of leisurely pleasure I myself regale.

海棠 蘇軾

海棠       蘇軾(1037-1101)

東風嫋嫋泛崇光，香霧空濛月轉廊。
只恐夜深花睡去，故燒高燭照紅妝。

Crab blossoms        Su Shi (1037-1101)

The moonlight floods with east zephyr in a soft splendor,

Over to the loggia it then turns amidst scented ethereal aura,
Deep in the night I am afraid even the blossoms will retire,
I burn tall candles to light up their ravishing looks to savour.