送梓州李使君 王維

送梓州李使君    王維 (701-761)
萬壑樹參天，千山響杜鵑。
山中一夜雨，樹杪百重泉。
漢女輸橦布，巴人訟芋田。
文翁翻教授，不敢倚先賢。

To Governor Li of Zizhou        Wang Wei (701-761)

Trees in the myriad ravines there rise up to the ether,

Amidst the thousands of mountains the cuckoos noisily chitter,
A night of rain over the mountains poured,
From treetops hundreds of springs splutter,
Han women there submit paulownia fibre cloths as duties to hand over,
People from the land of Ba go to the court for the taro fields they dispute over,
People there have been civilized since domestication was introduced by Wen Weng the revered Han governor,
To rival him in accomplishment would you aspire.

 

列女操 孟郊

列女操       孟郊(751-814)

梧桐相待老，鴛鴦會雙死。
貞婦貴殉夫，捨生亦如此。
波瀾誓不起，妾心井中水。

 

A Woman of Resolute Chastity     Meng Jiao(751-814)

Phoenixes on the parlowma stick to their partners till they both die old,

Mandarin ducks by the river die with their mates as a couple,

A woman of chastity would follow her husband to the netherworld,

They all insist to give up their life on chastity’s call,

As dead as the water of an ancient well,

Her heart is no longer affectable.

白雪歌送武判官歸京 岑參

白雪歌送武判官歸京     岑參(715-770)

北風卷地白草折， 胡天八月即飛雪。
忽如一夜春風來， 千樹萬樹梨花開。
散入珠簾濕羅幕， 狐裘不暖錦衾薄。
將軍角弓不得控， 都護鐵衣冷猶著。
瀚海闌幹百丈冰， 愁雲慘淡萬里凝。
中軍置酒飲歸客， 胡琴琵琶與羌笛。
紛紛暮雪下轅門， 風掣紅旗凍不翻。
輪臺東門送君去， 去時雪滿天山路。
山回路轉不見君， 雪上空留馬行處。

A Verse of White Snow to Bid Governor Assistant Wu Farewell Back to the Capital                  Cen Shen (715-770)

In the borders under the sweeping northern gale silver grasses grovel,

Snow flies in the eighth month in the barbarian pale,
Delusively the vernal zephyr comes at nightfall,
Thousands and thousands of pear blossoms presently blow,
Splashing and wetting the pearl portieres they sprinkle,
Warriors not even able to keep themselves warm with their fox fur robes or brocade quilts,
The general finds it hard to pull his bow,
The governing general in charge has to put on his iron armour in the chills as usual,
Like an ocean hundred zhang tall ice sprawls,
Gloomily spreading over thousands and thousands of miles frozen are the clouds in dismals,
The commanding general is treating the returning soldiers to a booze of farewell,
The pipa, the barbarian zither and tartar pipes are all put down to buckle,
Over the headquarters at dusk snow falls,
Under the northern chilly gale the red army banner is frozen and refuses to unfurl,
At the east gate of Luntai I see you off,
The Celestial Mountain is all covered with snow while you hit your home road,
Losing the sight of you over the anfractuous trail,
On the snow are only traces of your path of bridle.

 

 

洛陽女兒行 王維

洛陽女兒行     王維 (701-761)
洛陽女兒對門居，才可容顏十五餘。
良人玉勒乘驄馬，侍女金盤膾鯉魚。
畫閣朱樓盡相望，紅桃綠柳垂檐向。
羅幃送上七香車，寶扇迎歸九華帳。
狂夫富貴在青春，意氣驕奢劇季倫。
自憐碧玉親教舞，不惜珊瑚持與人。
春窗曙滅九微火，九微片片飛花璅 。
戲罷曾無理曲時，妝成衹是熏香坐。
城中相識盡繁華，日夜經過趙李家。
誰憐越女顏如玉，貧賤江頭自浣沙。

The Daughter of a Luoyang Household      

Wang Wei (701-761)

This daughter of a Luoyang household lives just vis a vis to my abode,

She looks fifteen at the most,
Her husband rides a courser with a jade bridle,
Her maid serves her carp bisque in a gold bowl,
Her garnished chambers and vermillion pavilions stand fulgently grand and tall,
Over their eaves crimson peach blossoms and green willows veil,
Maids help her out from her silk portieres and usher her into her fragrant carriage when she goes to tie up her espousals,  
Exquisite fans are uphurled to usher her into her luxurious ninefold upholstered conjugal boudoir when she recoils,
Her arrogant husband comes from a family rich and powerful,
More pompous and extravagant than Shi Chong of old,
So fond of his beautiful wife he teaches her to dance by his own,
To show off his richness he even gives away precious corals,
In spring mornings when the wind has the lamplight blown off,
Wisps of smoke fly away like minute flower petals,
After exchanging banters they wouldn’t care even to play music for a while,
After her sprucing up they just sit leisurely amidst the musk scented household,
All his friends in the city are rich and exulted,
Day and night he frequents the Lis and Chaos to make calls,
Who would cherish Xi Shi the abjectly poor Yue girl,
Who started only as a laundry girl on the river mole.

 

 

 

春思 李白

春思       李白(701- 762)

燕草如碧絲，秦桑低綠枝。

當君懷歸日，是妾斷腸時。

春風不相識，何事入羅幃？

Spring Pinings           Li Bai(701- 762)

Verdant ribbons are the grasses in the land of Yin,
Verdurous are the drooping mulberry branches in the land of Qin,
When you are nostalgic for your homeland to come back in,
I’ll be pining for you with a bruised soul within,
The vernal zephyr and I have never each other seen,
For what into my portiere it breezes in?

望海樓晚景五首(其五) 蘇軾

望海樓晚景五首(其五)        蘇軾 (1037-1101)

沙河燈火照山紅，歌鼓喧喧笑語中。

為問少年心在否，角巾欹側鬢如蓬。

Night Scene on the River Tower (Poem No. 5)   

Su Shi (1037-1101)

Lights in boats on the sand river setting the mountains ablaze,

Amidst laughters drums and songs boisterously rave,
Does the youngster’s mind still here stay?
Under a slant headsquare his hair stands disarrayed.

望海樓晚景五首(其四) 蘇軾

望海樓晚景五首(其四)      蘇軾 (1037-1101)

樓下誰家燒夜香，玉笙哀怨弄初涼。

臨風有客吟秋扇，拜月無人見晚妝。

Night Scene on the River Tower (Poem No. 4)       

Su Shi (1037-1101)

Who’s burning incense beneath the tower?

The early chills are imbued with the disturbing ululant pipes in the vesper,
Amidst the autumnal gale someone is concocting on a fan  with the throes of a verse composer,
But her face remains a mystery to the nearby moon worshippers.

望海樓晚景五首(其三) 蘇軾

望海樓晚景五首(其三)         蘇軾 (1037-1101)

青山斷處塔層層，隔岸人家喚欲應。

江上秋風晚來急，為傳鐘鼓到西興。

Night Scene on the River Tower (Poem No. 3)       

Su Shi(1037-1101)

Where the green mountains are disjunct stand numerous pagodas,

People responding to their families calling across the river,
The autumnal gale blasts ferociously in the vesper,
Over to Xi Xing the watch drum beats and bell tolls it’s to deliver.

 

望海樓晚景五首(其二) 蘇軾

望海樓晚景五首(其二)       蘇軾 (1037-1101)

橫風吹雨入樓斜，壯觀應須好句誇。

雨過潮平江海碧，電光時掣紫金蛇。

Night Scene on the River Tower (Poem No.2)        

Su Shi(1037-1101)

The gusty gale beats on the River Tower with bitter slanting showers,

A ravishing scene merits gracious expressions to exalt its grandeur,
When the gale and the gusty rains die down the hyaline waters remain peaceful and azure,
Flashes of lightening portray purple gold dragons and serpents in the air.

 

望海樓晚景五首(其一) 蘇軾

望海樓晚景五首(其一)        蘇軾 (1037-1101)

海上濤頭一線來，樓前相顧雪成堆。

從今潮上君須上，更看銀山二十回。

Night Scene on the River Tower (Poem No.1)       

Su Shi (1037-1101)

Raving in in a straight file are the billowy combers,

Hurling up heaps of snowdrifts they cluster,
You’ll have to come again and again with surging tides to savour,
The silver mountain of the billowy snowdrifts twenty more times over.

 

江樓夕望 白居易

江樓夕望 招客        白居易(772-846)
海天東望夕茫茫，山勢川形闊複長。
燈火萬家城四畔，星河一道水中央。
風吹古木晴天雨，月照平沙夏夜霜。
能就江樓銷暑否？比君茅舍較清涼。

A Night View on the River Tower   Calling my companions   

Bai Juyi(772-846)

Looking east at night the sea and the diaphanous ether voidly voidly spread afar,

The mountains and the river sprawl wide and long long yonder,
Myriad lights are put up by households around the city quarters,
Lit boats throng the middle river waters,
Ancient tree leaves rattle under the whiffling wind like fine day rain showers,
The bright moon shrouds the serene sands with a chilly summer frost layer,
Could you elude the heat and enjoy some cool on the river tower?
Comparing to your cottage it’ll certainly be much better.

 

西江月 蘇軾

西江月       蘇軾(1037-1101)
世事一場大夢，人生幾度新涼？
夜來風葉已鳴廊，看取眉頭鬢上。
酒賤常愁客少，月明多被雲妨。
中秋誰與共孤光，把盞淒涼北望。

Xi Jiang Yue       Su Shi(1037-1101)

World affairs are just chapters of dream cameos,
How many crisp and sprightly refreshing festivals like this on all your lifetime befall?
In the loggia at night leaves are already rattling in the autumnal gale,
My eyebrows and temples are turning grizzle,
Cheap wine attracts few guests to join the booze,
The brighter the moon tempts the more clouds to veil,
Who can join me to savour the bright moon on  this Mid-Autumn Festival?
I drink with my eyes northbound in desolate doles.

 

 

輪臺歌奉送封大夫出師西征 岑參

輪臺歌奉送封大夫出師西征     岑參(715-770)

輪臺城頭夜吹角， 輪臺城北旄頭落。

羽書昨夜過渠黎， 單于已在金山西。
戍樓西望煙塵黑， 漢兵屯在輪臺北。
上將擁旄西出征， 平明吹笛大軍行。
四邊伐鼓雪海涌， 三軍大呼陰山動。
虜塞兵氣連雲屯， 戰場白骨纏草根。
劍河風急雲片闊， 沙口石凍馬蹄脫。
亞相勤王甘苦辛， 誓將報主靜邊塵。
古來青史誰不見， 今見功名勝古人。

A Verse of Luntai Presented to General Feng on His Western Expeditionary Campaign         Cen Shen (715-770)

At dusk bugles blare over the Luntai city wall,

Presently to its north from the sky a star falls,
Through Quli at night an urgent military notice is hurled,
To the west of Gold Mountain the king of the Huns has already made his call,
Looking west from the sentry towers dark dust and smog prevail,
North of Luntai the extensive Han army camps sprawl,
With military banners highly unfurled, leading the western expeditionary campaign our general buckles down to the campaign battle,
In the morning pushing forward will be the army on the marching bugle,
Even the Snow Sea will rave and upheave on the warring drum thrills,
Mt. Yin will be shaken and stumble when the soldiers howl on their mettle,
Huns camps on the border up to the clouds unfurl,
On the battlefield white bones lie amidst the briers and brambles,
Over the Sword River rages the squall while widespread dark clouds roll,
In the Sand Gap rock pieces are frozen in the gelid chills with horse hooves broken off,
To serve His Majesty this vice chancellor of a general has given his all,
He swears to have the border troubles wiped and quelled.
Our history teems with such heroes from of old,
But the valorous feat of this general is phenomenal and eternal.

 

金陵酒肆留別 李白

金陵酒肆留別    李白(701- 762)
風吹柳花滿店香，吳姬壓酒喚客嘗。
金陵子弟來相送，欲行不行各盡觴。
請君試問東流水，別意與之誰短長。

 

Bidding Friends Farewell in a Jinling Wine House   
Li Bai(701- 762)

The wine house is full of whiffs of willow down brought by the vernal zephyr,

The wine girl from the land of Wu warms up the wine and keeps offering to the customers,
To see me off there come from Jinling many a kindred youngster,
Hard to tear myself away from such a convivial get-together,
I guzzle my drinks with my affable young partners,
Asking them which they find would stay longer,
The east rolling waters or our friendship for each other.

 

 

長恨歌 白居易

長恨歌       白居易(772 - 846)

漢皇重色思傾國，御宇多年求不得。

楊家有女初長成，養在深閨人未識。
天生麗質難自棄，一朝選在君王側；
回眸一笑百媚生，六宮粉黛無顏色。

春寒賜浴華清池，溫泉水滑洗凝脂，

侍兒扶起嬌無力，始是新承恩澤時。
雲鬢花顏金步搖，芙蓉帳暖度春宵；
春宵苦短日高起，從此君王不早朝。

承歡侍宴無閒暇，春從春遊夜專夜。

後宮佳麗三千人，三千寵愛在一身。
金屋妝成嬌侍夜，玉樓宴罷醉和春。
姊妹弟兄皆列土，可憐光彩生門戶；
遂令天下父母心，不重生男重生女。

驪宮高處入青雲，仙樂飄飄處處聞。

緩歌謾舞凝絲竹，盡日君王看不足。
漁陽鞞鼓動地來，驚破霓裳羽衣曲。
九重城闕煙塵生，千乘萬騎西南行。

翠華搖搖行復止，西出都門百餘里，

六軍不發無奈何，宛轉蛾眉馬前死。
花鈿委地無人收，翠翹金雀玉搔頭。
君王掩面救不得，回看血淚相和流。

黃埃散漫風蕭索，雲棧縈紆登劍閣。

峨嵋山下少人行，旌旗無光日色薄。
蜀江水碧蜀山青，聖主朝朝暮暮情。
行宮見月傷心色，夜雨聞鈴腸斷聲。

天旋日轉迴龍馭，到此躊躇不能去。

馬嵬坡下泥土中，不見玉顏空死處。
君臣相顧盡沾衣，東望都門信馬歸。
歸來池苑皆依舊，太液芙蓉未央柳。

芙蓉如面柳如眉，對此如何不淚垂？

春風桃李花開日，秋雨梧桐葉落時。
西宮南內多秋草，落葉滿階紅不掃。
梨園子弟白髮新，椒房阿監青娥老。

夕殿螢飛思悄然，孤燈挑盡未成眠。

遲遲鐘鼓初長夜，耿耿星河欲曙天。
鴛鴦瓦冷霜華重，翡翠衾寒誰與共？
悠悠生死別經年，魂魄不曾來入夢。

臨邛道士鴻都客，能以精誠致魂魄。

為感君王展轉思，遂教方士殷勤覓。
排雲馭氣奔如電，升天入地求之遍，
上窮碧落下黃泉，兩處茫茫皆不見。

忽聞海上有仙山，山在虛無飄渺間；

樓閣玲瓏五雲起，其中綽約多仙子。
中有一人字太真，雪膚花貌參差是。
金闕西廂叩玉扃，轉教小玉報雙成。

聞道漢家天子使，九華帳裏夢魂驚，

攬衣推枕起徘徊，珠箔銀屏迤邐開，
雲髻半偏新睡覺，花冠不整下堂來。
風吹仙袂飄飄舉，猶似霓裳羽衣舞；

玉容寂寞淚闌干，梨花一枝春帶雨。

含情凝睇謝君王，一別音容兩渺茫。
昭陽殿裏恩愛絕，蓬萊宮中日月長。
回頭下望人寰處，不見長安見塵霧。

惟將舊物表深情，鈿合金釵寄將去。

釵留一股合一扇，釵擘黃金合分鈿。
但教心似金鈿堅，天上人間會相見。
臨別殷勤重寄詞，詞中有誓兩心知，
七月七日長生殿，夜半無人私語時。
在天願作比翼鳥，在地願為連理枝。
天長地久有時盡，此恨綿綿無盡期。

The Song of Everlasting Grief          Bai Juyi (772 - 846)
The Han Emperor had a penchant for good looks, and was always looking out for devastating belles,
In his many years of reign his search was to no avail.
The Yang family had just coming of age a young girl,
She was brought up in the women’s bowers and unknown to the outside world;
What beauty Heaven bestowed on her could hardly be ignored,
So one day she was selected to wait on the Supreme Lord;
With a mere glance and a smile on turning her head, she exuded enchantment of a hundred sorts,
She literally rendered the selected beauties of the Imperial seraglio colour naught;

In the spring chills she was granted to bathe in the Clear Pool Splendid,
The hot spring water washed her delicate skin of jade sort,
When maids helped her out from the pool, she emanated a fascinating fragile charm that was rivaled not,
That was the time she started to have had all his favour aught;
Her flowery face, with her velvety hair adorned with golden hairpins, made her even more enamoured,
They spent the spring nights in the warm lotus-colour upholstered boudoir,
The sun rose early as spring nights were short,
From then on the Emperor did not hold any more morning levees at court;

To avail herself to him anytime he wanted even in banquets left her little spare time slots,
In spring, she escorted him on his outings and served him night after night with no default;
There were three thousand glamorous women in the Imperial seraglio, but all the love was bestowed on her alone instead of them as he ought,
After she groomed herself in the golden chamber, she served him for the night without other thought,
They had feasts in the jade pavilion and were intoxicated with the sweet time they sought,
Her sisters and brothers were all enfeoffed,
Honour came to her family’s house with the Emperor’s dote,
This made parents in the world prefer daughters and sons rather not,

Rising into the clouds was the high Palace Tower,
From there fairy music could be heard everywhere,
Displayed were melodies and dances tuned to flute and zither,
The Emperor was still not sated though he watched it all hours.
Suddenly war drums from Yuyang thundered,
The Melody of Rainbow Colour and Feathery Apparel was shattered,
Warring smoke and dust rose in the nine-fold city wall interiors,
To the southwest thousands of carriages and horses were driven afore,

Fluttering forward for a while stopped the emerald imperial banners,
Just a hundred miles or so out to the west of the capital areas,
The armies refused to move forward anymore,
Unless the Emperor promised to have the Lady slaughtered;
Hence the Lady with knitted eyebrows was strangled to death in front of the Emperor
With nobody collecting them her hair jewelleries all around the ground were scattered,

Failing to save her, His Majesty‘s face with his hands covered,
Gazing in anguish, tears mixed with blood oozed from his eyes sored;
A galling gale bringing yellow dust came their way’s course,
Following the winding trail they mounted the mountain to Jiange,
Passengers  under Mt Emei were very scarce,
The sun dimmed away, rendering the banners with no luster,
The waters of River Shu was blue while Mt Shu looked azure,
The Supreme Lord could not put down his affection for her day in and day out at this juncture,
In his sojourn palace he saw the moonlight filled with dire sore,
The sound of the bells in rainy nights cut him to wires,

When the unrest died down, and his imperial carriage embarked on its return trip, he felt heaven and earth all in chaos,
When they reached Mawei where the Lady died, he stalled the carriage and was unwilling to go further,
While being unable to see her jade-like countenance anymore,
The Lord and his courtiers looked at each other and tears pour,
Gazing at the East Gate, to bring them back on they entrusted their horses;
They found the ponds and gardens remained as they were,
Especially the lotuses in Taiye Pond and the Weiyang Garden willows and flowers,

The lotuses resembled her look and the willows her eyebrows,

On seeing that how could he hold back his tears?
Spring breeze brought peach and plum flowers,
Wudong leaves fell under the bitter autumnal rain showers,
In the inner south of the West Palace where His Majesty lived, autumn grass abound in clusters,
Nobody swept the red fallen leaves that had the steps covered;
The hair of the troupe of opera actors all turned hoar,
Aso were attendants of the Queen’s old chambers,

Fireflies in the palace at night-time had the emotions stirred,
The lone lamp burned out many times before he could finally fall into slumber,
The late drums and bells evidenced the length of the vespers,
The twinkling Milky Way seemed to keep dawn waiting at the corner,
Great chills brought by heavy frost on the interlaid roof tiles threatened with shivers,
Now who to share with him the quilt exquisitely embroidered?
Death had now separated the living and the dead for a year,
Her soul had not yet visited him in his dreamy vespers.

Taoist monks from the Hongdu Tao Academy in Linqiong said by exerting bona fides and perseverance they could contact a person's anima,

To save the Emperor from his dire sore,
They offered earnestly to seek for her anima,
Riding the clouds and mounting the airs, like lightening they whizzed afore,
They intended to search exhaustively the heaven and the terra.
Up in the blue sky and down in the Yellow Springs they scoured,
But nowhere had they a glimpse of her persona,

Suddenly they heard there was a fairy mountain beyond the oceania,
It was in the void zone between being and non-being areas,
There five-colour clouds surrounded the exquisite pavilions and towers,
Delicate fairies inhabited the fairy quarters,
One of them was Taizhen, the name she was adhered,
Her snowy skin and flowery face resembled the Lady’s entire,
The Taoist monk went straight to knock at the jade door on the west of the golden boudoir,
He begged the maid Little Jade to report to the Lady’s private maid Shuangcheng as required,

As she heard that the Han Emperor had sent a messenger,
She was startled from her dream in the nine-fold upholstery,
She grabbed a dress and pushed away her pillow and started to atroll over,
Unveiling the pearl curtains and pulling aside the panels silver,
With her velvety hair still ungroomed and her flowery crown disheveled after her sleep, into the hall she entered,
In the breeze her fairy dress resembling the steps of the Dance of Rainbow Colour and Feathery Apparel fluttered,

Her jade countenance soaked with disconsolate tears,
She was literally in the rain a spray of blossom pear,
In expressing her gratitude to the Supreme Lord her eyes were infused with amour,
Since she parted with His Majesty, their voices and faces to each other became too afar,
The deep affection in the Zhaoyang Palace was no more,
Life in the Heavenly Palace seemed extremely long and stalled forever,
As she looked down on the dusty terra,
She could not see Chang’an but only dusty cloud layers,

She could only post her deep affection via a love reminder,
She took out a gold hairpin from a little golden box locker,
Splitting the two arms of the hairpin and the golden locket severed,
She gave these to the monk to hand over to the Emperor to evince their unchangeable love swear,
She believed they would meet again in future either in heaven or on the terra,
When she bid the messenger farewell she had a very important message for the Emperor;
The message included a vow only they themselves aware,
On the seventh night of the seventh month in the Palace of Life Forever,
While whispering to each other alone in the depth of the vesper,
They did pledge to become pair-winged birds in the sky to soar,
And trees with intertwined branches on the terra;
However lasting are heaven and earth, there will be an end to them all after,
But this everlasting grief there is no way to expire.