卜算子 海棠 劉克莊

卜算子  海棠        劉克莊 (1187-1269)

片片蝶衣輕，點點猩紅小。

道是天公不惜花，百種千般巧。
朝見樹頭繁，暮見枝頭少。
道是天公果惜花，雨洗風吹了。

Bo Suan Zi  The Crab Blossom   Liu Kezhuang (1187-1269) 

Butterfly-like she is feathery delicate and gossamer,

In tiny facile scarlet dots she prospers,
People say Lord Heaven is not jealous of flowers,
But in His hands in thousands of carriages and poises this ravishing flower appears,
In the morning she teems all over the runners,
She has already made herself scarce in the vesper,
If the Good Lord is really jealous of flowers ever,
Why would He send wind and rain to have her scoured.

 

減字木蘭花 朱淑真

減字木蘭花      朱淑真(宋)

獨行獨坐，獨唱獨酬還獨臥。

佇立傷神，無奈輕寒著摸人。
此情誰見，淚洗殘妝無一半。
愁病相仍，剔盡寒燈夢不成

Mu Lan Hua (Shortened Form)        Zhu Shuchun (Song Poet)

Solitarily I walk and sit wherever I repair,

Desolate a life I lead with no boon partners,
Solitarily as well I recline and retire,
I sing to myself with only my own chorus,
Alone I stand in anguish and fluster,
The spring chills push my angst even further,
Who would understand my dilemma,
Most of the make-up on my sorrowful face is already washed away by my tears,
On the horns of glum and physical disorder,
In the chills I keep snuffing the candle wick over and over,
But desperately there is still no dream where I can linger.

 

 

 

 

 

梅(一) 王淇

梅(一)        王淇(宋)

不受塵埃半點侵，竹籬茅舍自甘心。  

只因誤識林和靖，惹得詩人說到今。  

Plum Blossom ( Poem 1)        Wang Qi (Song Poet)

Free from the least bit of earthly contamination or pesters,

Content to be confined in hovels and within barriers,
Unwittingly coming across Lin Bo the recluse verse composer,
She’s been a hot theme for the bards all these years.

 

霜月 李商隱

霜月     李商隱(813-858)

初聞征雁已無蟬，百尺樓臺水接天。  

青女素娥俱耐冷，月中霜裡鬥嬋娟。  

Frosty Moon          Li Shangyin (813-858)

When I first heard the wayfaring wild geese had already flown away, trees were divested of cicadas,

Water merges with the heavens on the tall tall tower,
Goddess of the frost (the green girl) and Chang’er on the moon can both stand the chills thither,
So there they quietly vying their beauty and glamour with each other.

水龍吟 辛棄疾

水龍吟 登建康賞心亭      辛棄疾(1140-1207)

楚天千裡清秋，水隨天去秋無際。
遙岑遠目，獻愁供恨，玉簪螺髻。
落日樓頭，斷鴻聲裡，江南遊子。
把吳鉤看了，欄幹拍遍，無人會，登臨意。
休說鱸魚堪膾，盡西風，季鷹歸未。
求田問舍，怕應羞見，劉郎才氣。
可惜流年，憂愁風雨，樹猶如此。
倩何人、喚取紅巾翠袖，搵英雄淚。

Shui Long Yin  Mounting Delightful Tower in Jiankang    Xin Qiji (1140-1207)

The blue clear autumnal sky of the south spreads thousands of miles into an infinite cool,

The Great River raves towards the end of horizon to merge into a boundless autumnal hue,
Distant mountains rise like women’s hair buns with hairpins expounding their agonies and rues,
Amidst the flush of the setting sun and mournful cries of a solitary wild goose,
Up the city wall this wayfarer in the south roves,
Drawing my sword to contemplate in full
On all and every of the balustrades I rap over and over in vexed woes,
Up here no one understands my angst and throes.
It’s time the west wind again turns the air crisp and shrewd,
I am not retiring as Zhang Han just for the perch stew,
Nor as Xu Fan, he who just cared for amassing fortune through estate and land use,
Should have been shamed by Liu Bei’s valorous moves,
But time fleets like downhill running water rolls,
Our broken motherland plunges me in vexation and solicitude abysmal,
Even trees had eventually grown up, as Huan Wen grievously rued
At his futile northern campaign to restore the legitimate rule;
Would someone get me an obliging belle to wipe my patriotic tears on the loose?

 

 

 

 

早春 白玉蟾

早春     白玉蟾(宋)

南枝纔放兩三花，雪裡吟香弄粉些。  

淡淡著煙濃著月，深深籠水淺籠沙。  

Early Spring        Bai Yuchan  (Song Poet)

A few plum blossom buds on the south sprays come to flower,

After the early snow a few bards loiter under,
Their wisps of fragrance some favour,
But it’s their shade of whiteness some adore,
What amazes me is the wisps of fragrance that infuse the zephyr,
The chilly moon seems to condense the fragrance much thicker,
Their image print deeply in the limpid water,
And shadily on the sands they are contoured.

 

寒夜 杜小山

寒夜        杜小山(宋)

寒夜客來茶當酒，竹爐湯沸火初紅。  

尋常一樣窗前月，纔有梅花便不同。  

A chilly night       Du Xiaoshan (Song Poet)

A guest calls in a chilly vesper,

I can only regale him with hot tea instead of liquor,
On the bamboo stove water simmers over the blazing fire,
Over the casement the moon shines as ever,
But with a few blooming plum blossoms everything seems so much better.

揚 州 慢 姜夔

揚 州 慢      姜夔 (1155-1221)

淮左名都，竹西佳處，解鞍少駐初程。

過春風十里，盡薺麥青青。
自胡馬窺江去後，廢池喬木，猶厭言兵。
漸黃昏，清角吹寒，都在空城。
杜郎俊賞，算而今、重到須驚。
縱豆蔻詞工，青樓夢好，難賦深情。
二十四橋仍在，波心蕩、冷月無聲。
念橋邊紅藥，年年知為誰生？

Yang Zhou Man          Jiang Kui (1155-1221)

Yangzhou the most prestigious metropolis east of River Huai,
Amidst a night of snow I come to revisit this place,
By the Bamboo West Pavilion the scenic spot most famous,
Dismounting and lull in the early part of my journey for the day,
Crossing the ten golden vernal miles of Yangzhou on my way,
Fields teeming with green green oats are all over the place,  
After the Jin armies crossed the River to invade,
Everything devastated by their savagery rage,
Only deserted ponds and overgrown trees left to testify their ravages,
All these are too sad to mention even today,
Dusk falls, chilly winds bring from the empty city mournful bugle wails,
However great a poet Du Mu is if he were still here today should be greatly dismayed,
In his beautiful poetic phrases:
Yangzhou, what a fascinating place,
Teeming with tempting belles frail and delicate at their teenage;
By all these his ten-year Yangzhou dream should well be prostrated,
And awakened from his intoxicated days,
The twenty-four bridges still stand to vindicate Yangzhou’s ravishing taste,
The water here still silently tosses the apathetic moon on its waves,
Oh, lovely peonies, for whom are you still flushing here to date?

竹樓 李嘉祐

竹樓       李嘉祐(唐)

傲吏身閒笑五侯，西江取竹起高樓。  

南風不用蒲葵扇，紗帽閒眠對水鷗。  

Bamboo building       Li Jiayou (Tang Poet)

For what one has to envy the marquises, the fatuous idling official jeers,

With bamboos from Jiangxi a tall bamboo building can be put together,
Fans can be disposed of with southerly winds in summer,
It’ll be my greatest pleasure napping near the flapping seagulls with my undonned official headwear.

 

和子由澠池懷舊 蘇軾

和子由澠池懷舊    蘇軾(1037-1101)

人生到處知何似，應似飛鴻踏雪泥。
泥上偶然留指爪，鴻飛那復計東西。
老僧已死成新塔，壞壁無由見舊題。
往日崎嶇還知否，路長人困蹇驢嘶。

Echoing my brother’s poem reminiscing Mianchi       

Su Shi (1037-1101)

How amazing is the similarity between life’s different scenarios,

Wayfaring wild geese may occasionally stop on the middle of their road,
Leaving claw prints on the muddy snow,
Thereafter who cares where they would go,
When the old monk dies the old pagoda has to give way to a new one to be molded,
Poems written on the walls of the old pagoda one will no longer be able to behold,
Don’t forget the difficulties we had come across in times of old,
The strenuous road ahead of us will make even the frustrated donkey we ride wail.

 

 

 

月夜舟中 戴復古

月夜舟中             戴復古 (1167-1248)

滿船明月浸虛空，綠水無痕夜氣沖。  

詩思浮沈檣影裡，夢魂搖曳櫓聲中。
星辰冷落碧潭水，鴻雁悲鳴紅蓼風。  
數點漁燈依古岸，斷橋垂露滴梧桐。   

On a boat in a moonlit night         Dai Fugu (1167-1248)

Teeming with moonlight the boat in a sea of voidness founders,
On the peaceful azure waters night chills sweep over,
In the shadow of the mast my poetic muse wavers,
Amidst sound of the rowing oar my fanciful soul staggers,
On the azure pond waters stars desolately shimmer,
Gusty autumnal winds bring mournful cries of wild geese amidst fluttering red water peppers,
A few fishing lights from the ancient shore glimmer,
From the wutong trees dew drops on the broken bridge splutter.

禹廟 杜甫

禹廟           杜甫(712-770)

禹廟空山裡，秋風落日斜， 

荒庭垂橘柚，古屋畫龍蛇。 
雲氣生虛壁，江聲走白沙， 
早知乘四載，疏鑿控三巴。

The temple of King Yu of Xia Dynasty          Du Fu (712-770)

The temple of King Yu is located in the empty hills,
Autumnal winds rise as the setting sun flushes askew,
With teeming pomelo and tangerine tress the dilapidated courtyard is filled,
The old building is adorned with serpents and dragons befitting its feel,
Ethereal vapours have all the rock walls mystically sealed,
With the raging billows of the deep river away white sands sluice,
Knew for a fact that to accomplish his job King Yu had to make use of four forms of travelling wheels,
By dredging sluiceways between the three Ba areas the deluge problem took to its heels.

 

 

 

杜少府之任蜀州 王勃

杜少府之任蜀州      王勃 (649-676)

城闕輔三秦，風煙望五津，  

與君離別意，同是宦遊人。  
海內存知己，天涯若比鄰，  
無為在歧路，兒女共沾巾。  

Seeing Du the Deputy Prefect off to his office in Shuzhou (Sichuan)                                        Wang Bo (649-676)

Embracing Chang’an the capital are the Three Qin mountains and rivers,

Espying amidst the mists here the five fords of Sichuan can easily be discovered,
To bid you farewell here arouses in me sorrows of sunder,
As officials of the court we can’t avoid working in far off areas,
Bosom friends separated however afar,
At world’s end our hearts are still together,
At this juncture of departure we need not deplore,
Wiping each other’s tears with a handkerchief like young lovers.

 

 

 

 

踏莎行 姜夔

踏莎行         姜夔(1155-1221)

燕燕輕盈，鶯鶯嬌軟，分明又向華胥見。

夜長爭得薄情知，春初早被相思染。
別後書辭，別時針線，離魂暗逐郎行遠。
淮南皓月冷千山，冥冥歸去無人管。

Ta Sha Xing        Jiang Kui (1155-1221)

As petite and gracile as a swallow she cuts a chic figure,
As silver and tender she speaks like oriole twitter,
In my dreams she repeatedly appears,
Keeps complaining I know not how night after night sleeplessly for me she suffers,
For the whole of early spring her thoughts have been taken hostage by lovesick sores,
I recall all the affectionate love letters between us since we are in sunder,
And the needlework she did before I left for my wears,
Her bruised and unsettled soul has long left her body to follow her lover,
The bright moon over where she lives shines vainly on the multitude mountains in an apathetic manner,
Solitarily her disconsolate soul returns with no one to take care.