送魏萬之京 李頎

送魏萬之京     李頎 (690-751)
朝聞游子唱驪歌，昨夜微霜初度河。
鴻雁不堪愁裏聽，雲山況是客中過。
關城曙色催寒近，御苑砧聲向晚多。
莫是長安行樂處，空令歲月易蹉跎。

Seeing Wei Wan Off to the Capital      Li Qi (690-751)

At dawn wayfarers sing their song of adieu,

At dusk faint frost has first made its way across the River Yellow,
Listen not to woeful cries of  the wild geese when you are fretted by dismals,
The desolate clouds and mountains you’ll come across as a sojourner who travels,
The gloomy twilight over Hangu Gate Pass ushering in the chills,
Laundry hustle and bustle within the imperial gardens become clamorous towards nightfall,
Don’t take Chang’an to be a place for fun and gaieties pleasurable,
Fritter away your days in ways undesirable.

風雨 李商隱

風雨    李商隱 (813-858)
凄涼寶劍篇，羈泊欲窮年。
黃葉仍風雨，青樓自管弦。
新知遭薄俗，舊好隔良緣。
心斷新豐酒，銷愁又幾千。

Storms        Li Shangyin (813-858)

The famous article the Treasured Sword thrills me with sorrows,

Wretchedly gadding on the tramp all these years I’ve straggled,
Like a yellow leaf flittering in the stormy gale,
People revel with abandon in dancing and singing sprees and gaieties in brothels,
New acquaintances will soon be forgotten in an acrid and apathetic world,
Even old friends will be alienated if not stay closely cordial,
I don’t expect the Xin Feng wine to change my fortune’s wheel,
I’d rather spend a few thousand coins to drink off my dismals.

宿桐廬江寄廣陵舊遊 孟浩然

宿桐廬江寄廣陵舊遊    孟浩然 (689-740)

山暝聽猿愁，滄江急夜流。
風鳴兩岸葉，月照一孤舟。
建德非吾土，維揚憶舊遊。
還將兩行淚，遙寄海西頭。

To My Old Pals in Guangling While Putting Up

at the Donglu River            Meng Haoran (689-740)

At dusk amidst the mountains I listen to the ape wails,

Rapidly the river raves as night falls,
Leaves on the banks rattle amidst the gale,
The moon shines on my solitary boat,
Jiande is not my homeland pale,
Weiyang reminds me of my old pals,
Totally unsettled by my doles,
Remotely my running tears I could only post,
To you in Guangling at the sea’s end of the westmost.

秋日赴闕題潼關驛樓 許渾

秋日赴闕題潼關驛樓    許渾  (788-860)

紅葉晚蕭蕭，長亭酒一瓢。
殘雲歸太華，疏雨過中條。
樹色隨關迥，河聲入海遙。
帝鄉明日到，猶自夢漁樵。

Written at the Station Guest House at Tong Guan on

My Way to the Capital on an Autumn Day        
Xu Hun (788-860)

The red tree leaves rattle in the autumnal gale at nightfall,

For a gourd of wine at Long Pavilion I lull,
To Mt. Tai Hua the broken clouds float,
Mt. Zhong Tiao is shrouded in mizzles,
From this gate pass flushing trees widely and remotely sprawl,
Far into the oceans the raving Yellow River rolls,
By tomorrow I’ll be at the Capital,
Tonight in this guest house I still dream of for fishing and woodcutting I toil and moil.

 

水龍吟 蘇軾

水龍吟 次韻章質夫楊花詞     蘇軾 (1037-1101)

似花還似非花，也無人惜從教墜。
拋家傍路，思量卻是，無情有思。
縈損柔腸，困酣嬌眼，欲開還閉。
夢隨風萬里，尋郎去處，又還被鶯呼起。
不恨此花飛盡，恨西園、落紅難綴。
曉來雨過，遺蹤何在，一池萍碎。
春色三分，二分塵土，一分流水。
細看來不是楊花，點點是離人淚。(

Shui Long Yin              Su shi (1037-1101)
Echoing Zhang Zhifu’s poem on the willow down

Looking like flowers but that is not what she is usually considered,

Flittering in the wind with nobody to care,
Desolately strewn by paths after shedding from her parent wickers,
Apathetic looking, actually deeply aggrieved by sorrows of sunder,
Her tormented zephyry eyes close for long solicitous wears and tears,
In her dreams her soul has travelled thousand miles to follow her lover,
But her fond dreams are relentlessly awakened by oriole twitters,
We don’t take to heart fallen willow down from her wickers,
We just take to heart fallen blossoms of the west garden that can never be on the spays restored,
After rain in the early hours,
What spring has left can be seen clear,
But where has the fallen willow down repaired?
Strewn on the pond are only duckweed tatters,
Spring has just left over,
Three parts of vernal splendour,
Two parts of dust,
One part of running water,
The fallen willow down is just drizzles of sundering tears.

 

 

送人東遊 溫庭筠

送人東遊    溫庭筠  (812-870)

荒戌落黃葉，浩然離故關。
高風漢陽渡，初日郢門山。
江上幾人在，天涯孤棹還。
何當重相見，樽酒慰離顏。

Bidding a Friend Adieu Off to His Eastern Trip      

Wen Tingjun (812-870)

Over the desolate citadel yellow leaves falls,

Resolutely off your homeland you pull,
From the Ford of Hanyang amidst the high gale,
At Mt Yingmen you’ll reach tomorrow amidst the early sun glow,
Over the river remaining are scarcely any pals,
Seeing you off to end of world in your solitary boat,
If we ever again come across,
I’ll treat you to a booze to console our sundering sorrows.

賊平後送人北歸 司空曙

賊平後送人北歸    司空曙 (720-790)

世亂同南去，時清獨北還。
他鄉生白髮，舊國見青山。
曉月過殘壘，繁星宿故關。
寒禽與衰草，處處伴愁顏。

Seeing Off My Friend Back to the North After
the Turmoil             Sikong Shu (720-790)

Together we returned to the South during the turmoils,

Now back to North alone you recoil after the unrest is quelled,
Your hair turned white while up in an outland you were piled,
The green mountains of your homeland you will again behold,
Amidst twilight you’ll pass the dilapidated citadels,
Under the multiple stars you’ll put up at the gate pass of old,
Wilted grasses and wintry fowls,
Will follow your melancholy wherever you go,

 

蟬 李商隱

蟬    李商隱(813-858)
本以高難飽，徒勞恨費聲。
五更疏欲斷，一樹碧無情。
薄宦梗猶泛，故園蕪已平。
煩君最相警，我亦舉家清。

Cicadas        Li Shangyin (813-858)

Staying clean and aloft and be left to starve but still refuses by any boodle defiled,

High up on trees but away its chirrs are muddled,
Every night on the fifth watch its chirr trails off,
But the insentient tree on which it settles remains in fine fettle,
As drifting tree branches I take up lowly requited devoirs on the rove,
My old garden has become destitute and uncultivable urging my recoil,
Thanks to your unrelenting remonstrating trills,
My whole family are free from any boodle defiled.

 

賣炭翁 白居易

賣炭翁     苦宮市也    白居易 (772-846)

賣炭翁，伐薪燒炭南山中，

滿面塵灰煙火色，兩鬢蒼蒼十指黑。
賣炭得錢何所營，身上衣裳口中食，
可憐身上衣正單，心憂炭價願天寒。
夜來城外一尺雪，曉駕炭車輾冰轍，
牛困人飢日已高，市南門外泥中歇。
翩翩兩騎來是誰，黃衣使者白衫兒，
手把文書口稱勅，迴車叱牛牽向北。
一車炭重千餘斤，宮使驅將惜不得，
半疋紅紗一丈綾，繫向牛頭充炭直。

The Old Coal Huckster   His coal ransacked by eunuchs from the Palace

Bai Juyi (772-846)

There is an old man who sells coal,

He makes coal out of wood he cuts in the south holts,
His face is full of dust and smoke coated,
His temple hoar and his fingers all darkly soiled,
On what does he spend his income gross?
Clothing himself and his victuals,
But clothes on him are thin and old,
What worries him is the weather gets too warm and price of coal too low,
In the night city suburbs were laid a foot of snow,
At daybreak his coal cart on the frozen road he drove,
At noon both his ox and himself were worn out with toil and moil,
Out of the south gate amid the muddy road he lulled,
Arrogantly two riders approached,
One clad in white and the other yellow,
Declaring an edict to pull,
Wheeling the coal cart to the north and forward they yowled,
More than a thousand catties weighs the cart of coal,
But what the eunuchs dictated one could not say no,
A zhang of silk and red gauze half a roll,
They thrusted these onto the ox head to settle for the coal.

早秋 許渾

早秋    許渾(788-860)

遙夜泛清瑟，西風生翠蘿。
殘螢棲玉露，早雁拂金河。
高樹曉還密，遠山晴更多。
淮南一葉下，自覺洞庭波。

Early Autumn         Xu Hun (788-860)

All through the long chilly night rove the unsettling zither ruffles,

From verdant creepers comes the western gale,
Surviving fireflies adhere on the jade autumnal dews,
Across the Galaxy the early wild goose reel,
Massively and rankly the tall trees in the morning jostle,
Against a clear sky distant mountains seem multiple,
South of the River Huai whenever a leaf falls,
Billows over Lake Dong Ting will heave to the call.

蜀先主廟 劉禹錫

蜀先主廟    劉禹錫 (772-842)

天地英雄氣，千秋尚凜然。
勢分三足鼎，業復五銖錢。
得相能開國，生兒不象賢。
凄涼蜀故妓，來舞魏宮前。

Temple of the First Emperor of Shu      Liu Yuxi (772-842)

His heroics had the whole universe thrilled,
After a thousand years he still keeps people in awe,
A tripartite division of the empire was destined to befall,
His greatest feat was to have the five zhu coin money of Emperor Wu of Han reinstalled,
With the help of a capable statesman chancellor he had his kingdom founded and unfurled,
What a pity his son was not as sage as himself at all,
What is more deplorable was the girl performers of Shu in times of old,
Had to perform before the Wei court who had taken over the rule.

‘

 

沒蕃故人 張籍

沒蕃故人     張籍  (766─830)

前年戌月支，城下沒全師。
蕃漢斷消息，死生長別離。
無人收廢帳，歸馬識殘旗。
欲祭疑君在，天涯哭此時。

An Old Friend Who Bit the Dust on the Barbarian Soil

Zhang Jie (766─830)

Year before last against the barbarian state of Yue Zhi you led an army to keep vigil,

Unfortunately the whole army perished in the battle beneath the city wall under your call,
Communications between the barbarian state and the Central empire was cut off,
The living and the dead are parted once and for all,
Away your torn commander tent had no one to stow,
Only from your escaped war horse can I recognize your banner tattoos,
Hesitating to offer you memorial services but I have to be infallible,
At end of world I could only let my tears fall.