行路難(其二) 李白

行路難(其二)       李白 (701- 762)

大道如青天，我猶不得出。
羞逐長安社中兒，赤雞白狗賭梨栗。
彈劍作歌奏苦聲，曳裾王門不稱情。
淮陰市井笑韓信，漢朝公卿忌賈生。
君不見昔時燕家重郭隗，擁篲折節無嫌猜。
劇辛樂毅感恩分，輸肝剖膽效英才。
昭王白骨縈蔓草，誰人更掃黃金臺。
行路難，歸去來。

Arduous Road (Poem No. 2)   Li Bai (701- 762)

As broad as the heaven the boulevard sprawls,

But still unable to offer my service to the best avail,
Ganging up with Chang’an youngsters who loll dawdle,
With red chicken and white dogs over pears and chestnuts we gamble.
When Feng Huan harping on his sword groaning his grievances of a mooching livelihood under Prince Meng Chang’s household,
And Zou Yang of Han kept complaining when he could be at ease and ignore the formalities living in the households of the rich and powerful,
Han Xin, the founding general of Han humiliated as a youth under the Huai Yin rascals,
Jia Yi of Han from the highest ministers suffered aspersions and libels,
Can’t you not see Guo Wei by the Prince of Yin was esteemed with great awe,
Soliciting his services greatly faithful and humble,
Attracting Ju Xin and Le yi offering up themselves their services to great avail,
Doing everything they deemed good for the Prince they had contributed their all and all,
Now the bones of Prince of Yin already amid the wild reeds sprawl,
Who will now have the Golden Terrace swept and swilled,
What an arduous road,
Back home I’d better go!

行路難(其一) 李白

行路難(其一)       李白 (701- 762)
金樽清酒斗十千，玉盤珍饈值萬錢。
停杯投筯不能食，拔劍四顧心茫然。
欲渡黃河冰塞川，將登太行雪暗天。
閑來垂釣坐溪上，忽復乘舟夢日邊。
行路難，行路難，多歧路，今安在。
長風破浪會有時，直挂雲帆濟滄海。

Arduous Road (Poem No. 1)       Li Bai (701- 762)

Ten thousand coin pieces a dau costs the clear wine in the gold bottle,

More worthy are the rare dishes in the jade bowls,
Pausing my cup and chopsticks with all these I just can’t bolt,
Looking around with my sword drawn in hand I feel baffled,
Wishing to cross the Yellow River but it is ice foiled,
My plans to mount Mt. Taixing are also thwarted by the overshadowing snow,
Leisurely fishing over the rill,
Presently in my dream vagaries to the sun in a boat I roll,
What an arduous road,
What an arduous road,
Too many an astray trail,
Whereever now are these astray trails?
There will be a time I ride a long gale and break through the rough billows,
All the way to the oceans I’ll go with a fully reared sail.

 

八月十五夜月二首(其二) 杜甫

八月十五夜月 二首(其二)  杜甫(712-770)

稍下巫山峽，猶銜白帝城。

氣沈全浦暗，輪仄半樓明。
刁鬥皆催曉，蟾蜍且自傾。
張弓倚殘魄，不獨漢家營。

The Moon in the Night of the Mid Autumn Festival

(Poem No. 2)        Du Fu (712-770)

Down behind the Wu Gorge the moon crawls,

Over Baidi City it still dangles,
Gloomily gloomy the river falls,
Half of the pavilion is still brightly lit by the moon slanting across,
Siren beats in the citadel urge dawn’s call,
The heavenly toad can’t help hanging askew,
The full moon is a bow fully pulled,
Shining not only on the Han citadels but also the whole world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

八月十五夜月二首(其一) 杜甫

八月十五夜月二首(其一)          杜甫 (712-770)

滿月飛明鏡，歸心折大刀。

轉蓬行地遠，攀桂仰天高。
水路疑霜雪，林棲見羽毛。
此時瞻白兔，直欲數秋毫。

The Moon in the Night of the Mid Autumn Festival
(Poem No. 1)                       Du Fu (712-770)

The full moon is a flying mirror,

Cutting my heart like a huge broken hack cutter with nostalgia,
Like forlorn weeds from my homeland I drifted farther and farther,
Wishing to prick the osmanthus sprays there but formidably high is the ether,
My way home is strewn with snow and frost hoar,
Birds in the woods are pruning their feathers,
Under the brilliance of the moon’s glamour,
I could almost count the heavenly hare’s new hair.

 

 

八月十五日夜湓亭望月 白居易

八月十五日夜湓亭望月    白居易 (772-846)

昔年八月十五夜，曲江池畔杏園邊。
今年八月十五夜，湓浦沙頭水館前。
西北望鄉何處是，東南見月幾回圓。
臨風一歎無人會，今夜清光似往年。

Contemplating the Moon at the Pen Pavilion in the Night
of the Mid Autumn Festival                  Bai Juyi (772-846)

In the night of the Mid Autumn Festival last year,

By the side of the Qujiang Pool with the Apricot Garden near,
In the same night this year,
At the sand shore of Penpu and in front of the House of Aqua,
Looking northwest hoping to find the whereabouts of my homeland quarters,
To the southeast the moon turns full and round many times over,
A long sigh in the autumnal gale I utter but nobody cares,
The brightness of the moon is the same over all these years.

 

長相思(其二) 李白

長相思(其二)      李白  (701- 762)
日色欲盡花含煙，月明如素愁不眠。
趙瑟初停鳳凰柱，蜀琴欲奏鴛鴦弦。
此曲有意無人傳，願隨春風寄燕然。
憶君迢迢隔青天，昔日橫波目，今作流淚泉。
不信妾斷腸，歸來看取明鏡前。

Everlasting Pining (Poem No. 2)        Li Bai (701- 762)

The sun fades away and flowers mists shrouded,

As bright as white satin the moon shines but sleeplessly I lie in dismals,
Playing on the zither I’ve just come to a lull,
Down on the lute I am just trying to buckle,
This tune I play is deeply imbued with affection but relating to you is not readily possible,
How much I wish to Mt. Yanran with the vernal zephyr it floats,
Pining for you beyond the boundless heavens far far remote,
The eyes that were so cute at making passes not too long ago,
Have become the font of tears this while,
If you don’t believe in my bruised soul,
Come look at the one before the mirror you’ll believe what you are told.

 

長相思(其一) 李白

長相思(其一)       李白  (701- 762)
長相思，在長安。
絡緯秋啼金井闌，微霜凄凄簟色寒。
孤燈不明思欲絕，卷帷望月空長嘆。
美人如花隔雲端，上有青冥之高天，下有淥水之波瀾。
天長地遠魂飛苦，夢魂不到關山難。
長相思，摧心肝。

Everlasting Pining (Poem No. 1)        Li Bai (701- 762)

The one my lasting pining for is Chang’an dwelled,

When autumn crickets chir over the golden railing of the well,
Light dews gloomily gloomily shroud my mat with chills,
The solitary dim lamp is smothering my bruised soul,
Rolling up the portiere I inanely contemplate the moon and utter a long wail,
Such a ravishing blossom of a beauty is kept apart only by apathetic clouds,
The boundless azure ether is high high aloft,
While the billowy hyaline waters raving below,
The endless heavens is far too difficult to fly over for the soul,
The myriad mountains make the wayfaring dreaming soul even more difficult,
This lasting pining has completely shattered my bruised soul.

 

 

過故人莊 孟浩然

過故人莊     孟浩然 (689-740)
故人具雞黍，邀我至田家。
綠樹村邊合，青山郭外斜。
開軒面場圃，把酒話桑麻。
待到重陽日，還來就菊花。

Calling at My Old Fellow’s Farmhouse      

Meng Haoran (689-740)

Slaughtering chickens to go with the millet for a meal,

Inviting me to his farmhouse my friend has me regaled,
Green trees around the village circle,
Beyond the fields verdant mountains straddle,
Outside the casements lay the farms for vegetables,
Over a cup of wine we coze on the life of a farming household,
Pledging till the Double Yang Festival,
For the chrysanthemums I’ll again make my call.

 

 

 

經鄒魯祭孔子而嘆之 唐玄宗

經鄒魯祭孔子而嘆之      唐玄宗

夫子何為者，棲棲一代中。
地猶鄹氏邑，宅即魯王宮。
嘆鳳嗟身否，傷麟怨道窮。
今看兩楹奠，當與夢時同。

Offering Sacrifice to Confucius While Passing Lu and Post My Lamentations        Emperor Xuan Zong of Tang 

Oh! Master Confucius for whatsoever rational!

In your times did you hustle and bustle,
Your homeland is still in Zou Township’s pale,
While your house has become Prince Lu’s residence palial,
You always deplored you had not the chance to evince the grace of the phoenix fall,
And lamented the capture of the kirin epitomized the breaking down of virtues the universe upholds,
Judging by the offerings heaping up by the posts,
You should have dreamt the same in your times of old.

 

 

聞官軍收河南河北 杜甫

聞官軍收河南河北     杜甫(712-770)
劍外忽傳收薊北，初聞涕淚滿衣裳。
卻看妻子愁何在，漫卷詩書喜欲狂。
白日放歌須縱酒，青春作伴好還鄉。
即從巴峽穿巫峽，便下襄陽向洛陽。

On Hearing the Recovery of Henan and Hebei
by the Imperial Army                    Du Fu (712-770)

The news of recovery of Jibei suddenly comes to me outside Jiange where I am stalled,

It strikes me so abruptly that down on my gown my tears pour,
Looking around my wife and children have dumped their dismals,
Carelessly rolling back my scrolls of books and verses I am rapturously enthralled,
Singing with abandon in broad daylight should go with a booze,
Going back to my homeland the viridity of spring would make a superb travelling pal,
Right now I’ll go by way of Ba Gorge through Wu Gorge,
Down to Xiangyang to Luoyang hitting my home trail.

 

 

臨江仙 蘇軾

臨江仙  蘇軾(1037-1101)

夜飲東坡醒復醉，歸來彷彿三更。

家童鼻息已雷鳴。敲門都不應，倚杖聽江聲。
長恨此身非我有，何時忘卻營營？
夜闌風靜縠紋平。小舟從此逝，江海寄餘生。

Lin Jiang Xin         Su Shi(1037-1101)

Awaking from my night booze I again drink myself falling over,

Arriving home the third watch seems to be the hour,
My servants are snoring like thunder,
Knocking at my home door there is no answer,
Leaning on my cane I listen to the surging river waters,
I am long chagrined at no longer being my own master,
When can I shed life’s cumbers?
The wind dies down and the wrinkling combers having pacified deep in the vesper,
In a skiff I’ll totally disappear forever,
Have myself exiled amidst the seas and waters.

 

 

漁翁 柳宗元

漁翁        柳宗元(773-818)

漁翁夜傍西岩宿， 曉汲清湘燃楚竹。
煙銷日出不見人， 欸乃一聲山水綠。
回看天際下中流， 岩上無心雲相逐。

The Fisherman        Liu Zongyuan (773-818)

By the western cliffs the fisherman moors his boat in the vesper,

Burning bamboos from the land of Chu, with clear water from the River Xiang his tea he prepares,
As the sun rises and mists disperse he disappears,
Amidst the dabbles of the rolling oars the mountain and waters are all tinged azure,
Turning back I can see the ether spreading down to join the running river,
While the mercurial clouds over the cliffs keep chasing each other and cut capers.

 

尋南溪常道士 劉長卿

尋南溪常道士       劉長卿 (726-786)
一路經行處，莓苔見屐痕。
白雲依靜渚，芳草閉閑門。
過雨看松色，隨山到水源。
溪花與禪意，相對亦忘言。

Visiting Chang the Taoist Monk in the South Rill   

Liu Changqing (726-786)

Everywhere I pass on my way,

Clog scores are left on the moss all over the place,
White clouds shroud over the serene ait,
Verdant grasses occlude the reclusive gate,
After the rain the pines stand in a conspicuous viridity shade,
Looking for the font of the rill I follow the mountain trail,
There the flowers setting off the Zen trait,
Lose me in a reverie where I’m at a loss what to say.

 

雜詩 沈佺期

雜詩    沈佺期 (656-719)

聞道黃龍戌，頻年不解兵。
可憐閨裏月，長在漢家營。
少婦今春意，良人昨夜情。
誰能將旗鼓，一為取龍城。

A Casual Poem        Shen Quanqi (656-719)

Soldiers sent to garrison the Yellow Dragon City I am told,

Stay there for years for the unrelenting turmoils,
Pathetic are their wives in their desolate boudoirs,
Pining under the same moonlight shining on their husbands’ camps citadel,
These fair young ladies’ spring night disposals,
Are exactly what their husbands in their dreams exult,
With banners raised and war drums rolled,
Who can lead the army in the deadly salvoes,
Recover the Dragon city in one lethal blow.

 

 

秋日登吳公臺上寺遠眺 劉長卿

秋日登吳公臺上寺遠眺      劉長卿(726-786)
古臺搖落後，秋入望鄉心。
野寺來人少，雲峰隔水深。
夕陽依舊壘，寒磬滿空林。
惆悵南朝事，長江獨自今。

Espying on the Wu Gong Terrace Temple on an
Autumn Day              Liu Changqing (726-786)

Dilapidated is this ancient terrace temple,

Over here autumn kindles my nostalgic doles,
Travellers are rare in this temple amidst the wilds,
Beyond the waters the clouds shrouded mountain peaks look diaphanously brumal,
The setting sun flushes on the old army citadel,
Chilly stone chime tunes infuse the empty wealds,
Long gone are the South Dynasty deplorable sorrows,
Only the Great River still stands to evince them all.