Monday 30 May 2016

雜詩 無名氏


雜詩   無名氏
近寒食雨草萋萋,
著麥苗風柳映堤。
等是有家歸未得,
杜鵑休向耳邊啼。

A Casual Poem         Anonymous

Rankly rankly spread the grasses near the Cold Meals Festival,
The vernal breeze sweeps on the malts while the moles are tinted green by the flushing willows,
We are all stranded wayfarers with homes back we can’t go,
Just not let the cuckoo warbles ruffle our nostalgic dismals.

 

Saturday 28 May 2016

寄人 張泌


寄人    張泌  ()
別夢依依到謝家,
小廊回合曲闌斜。
多情衹有春庭月,
猶為離人照落花。

Posting My Feelings          Zhang Bi (Tang Poet)

After we bid each other farewell lingering around the Xie household in my dreams is my soul,
The circling loggia and the slanting crooked balustrades are what I still behold,
Awaking I find the moon in the spring courtyard is teeming with the deepest vernal amour,
For the wayfarer she still glows on the fallen blows.

 

Thursday 26 May 2016

馬嵬坡 鄭畋


馬嵬坡    鄭畋 (825-883)

玄宗回馬楊妃死,
雲雨難忘日月新。
終是聖明天子事,
景陽宮井又何人。

The Ma Wei Station         Zheng Tian (825-883)

When the Emperor returned on horseback to the Capital Lady Yang has long left the world,
Time elapses many times over but still lasts is the unforgettable captivating affaire d’amour to the eternal,
This could only have been  a sagacious sovereign’s romance tale,
But whosoever had to hide in the Jingyang Palace Well to avoid their fatal debacle.

Tuesday 24 May 2016

瑤瑟怨 溫庭筠


瑤瑟怨    溫庭筠 (812-870)
冰簟銀床夢不成,
碧天如水夜雲輕。
雁聲遠過瀟湘去,
十二樓中月自明。

Chagrins of the Jade Decorated Zither       
Wen Tingjun (812-870)

On an icy mat and a silvery bed sleeplessly I loll,
The azure sky is aqua blue and the thin night clouds rove,
Remote over to the Rivers Xiao and Xiang wild geese whimpers gurgle,
Over the Twelve Towers the moon efflugently dazzles. 

Sunday 22 May 2016

賈生 李商隱


賈生     李商隱 (813-858)
宣室求賢訪逐臣,
賈生才調更無倫。
可憐夜半虛前席,
不問蒼生問鬼神。

Jia Yi        Li Shangyin (813-858)

Emperor Wen of Han sought the advice of the cashiered meritorious and sagacious courtiers in the Palace Cozy Hall,
Among them Jia Yi was the most ingeniously and sagaciously incomparable,
Modestly at midnight the Emperor let him take the chair to preside over a huddle,
What a shame it was not the wellbeing of the people but the fate of the House of Han the Emperor wanted to know.

 

Friday 20 May 2016

瑤池 李商隱


瑤池    李商隱 (813-858)
瑤池阿母綺窗開,
黃竹歌聲動地哀。
八駿日行三萬里,
穆王何事不重來。

The Celestial Pool      Li Shangyin (813-858)

The Goddess Xi Wang has her verdant casement pulled off,
Presently comes the grievous mournful song of the Yellow Bamboo,
The eight coursers of King Mu of Zhou could daily travel eighty thousand miles,
There’s no reason why he has not yet recalled.

 

Wednesday 18 May 2016

隋宮 李商隱


隋宮    李商隱 (813-858)
乘興南不戒嚴,
九重誰省諫書函。
春風舉國裁宮錦,
半作障泥半作帆。

The Sojourn Palaces of the Emperor of Sui        
Li Shangyin (813-858)

Taking a whim to gad around in the South he made no curfew at nightfall,
No one in the court took heed of the remonstrative memorials,
Tribute brocades for the Emperor’s fun amidst the soothing vernal zephyr came in from all parts of the empire realms,
Half of them were made into saddle clothes and the rest for boat sails.

 

Monday 16 May 2016

為有 李商隱


為有    李商隱 (813-858)
為有雲屏無限嬌,
鳳城寒盡怕春宵。
無端嫁得金龜婿,
辜負香衾事早朝。

All Because      Li Shangyin (813-858)

All because she is captivated by the ravishing cloudscape painting on the panel,
Chilly wintry nights have ended but here cone what she loathes most the short spring nights in the Capital,
Inadvertently marrying to a man highly exulted,
Leaving her alone in her fragrant boudoir to attend morning levees with His Lord Imperial.

 

Saturday 14 May 2016

寄令狐郎中 李商隱


寄令狐郎中     李商隱 (813-858)
嵩雲秦樹久離居,
雙鯉迢迢一紙書。
休問梁園舊賓客,
茂陵秋雨病相如。

To Chancellery Official Linghu    Li Shangyin (813-858)

Long apart by the clouds over Mt. Song and the trees in Qinzhou we have been pulled,
Remotely far far afield we are linked only by epistles,
Don’t broach on the whereabouts of the honoured guest who frequented the gardens of the Prince of Liang in times of old,
He lies ailing in Mao Ling amidst autumnal squalls.

 

Thursday 12 May 2016

寄揚州韓綽判官 杜牧


寄揚州韓綽判官     杜牧 (803-852)
青山隱隱水迢迢,
秋盡江南草未凋。
二十四橋明月夜,
玉人何處教吹簫。

To Magistrate Han Chuo in Yangzhou        Du Mu (803-852)

Diaphanously the verdant mountains are shrouded and the waters spread far far afield,
Autumn comes to the end South of the River but foliage has not yet wilted,
Over the twenty four bridges of Yangzhou the bright moon wields,
Where is the fair one teaching his fife loving student belles how to play the tubule?

 

Tuesday 10 May 2016

夜雨寄北 李商隱


夜雨寄北     李商隱 (813-858)
君問歸期未有期,
巴山夜雨漲秋池。
何當共剪西窗燭,
卻話巴山夜雨時。

Posting to the North Amidst the Night Rain      
Li Shangyin (813-858)

You ask when I will return but there is no fixed date for my recoil,
Here in Bashan the night rain swells the autumnal pool,
When shall we coze while trimming the candle under the west window,
On this night rain in Bashan we tattle?

 

Sunday 8 May 2016

將赴吳興登樂遊原 杜牧


將赴吳興登樂     杜牧 (803-852)
清時有味是無能,
愛孤雲靜愛僧。
欲把一麾江海去,
原上望昭陵。

Mounting the Leyou Plateau Enroute to Take Up
My Official Devoirs at Wuxing           Du Mu (803-852)

If you enjoy your official devoirs in peaceful times you are literally a man of no merits and incapable,
I savour the solitary clouds as I insouciantly idle and mix only with the monks in my serene tranquil,
Now to the rivers and seas of Wuxing my banners I wield,
On Plateau Leyou to Zhao Ling the Imperial Tomb I’ll pay my homage of awe.

 

Friday 6 May 2016

近試上張水部 朱慶餘


近試上張水部     朱慶餘()
洞房昨夜停紅燭,
待曉堂前拜舅姑。
妝罷低聲問夫婿,
畫眉深淺入時無。

To Official Zhang of the Water Works Department
Probing for My Imperial Exams Results        
Zhu Qingyu (Tang Poet)

Last night a red candle was lit in their conjugal wedding boudoir,
At dawn they went through the ceremony of genuflecting their parents in the hall,
After sprucing up she asked her groom in a hushed mumble,
Have I brushed my eyebrows in the latest style.

 

Wednesday 4 May 2016

宮詞 朱慶餘


宮詞    朱慶餘 ()
寂寂花時閉院門,
美人相并立瓊軒。
含情說宮中事,
鸚鵡前頭不敢言。

A Palatial Verse             Zhu Qingyu (Tang Poet)

Palace doors are closed as flowers desolately fall,
A couple of beautiful court girls stand together in the grand hall,
Tenderly on what happens in the palace they tend to prattle,
But in front of the parrots they have all that swallowed.

Monday 2 May 2016

題金陵渡 張祜


題金陵渡    張祜(785-849)

金陵津渡小山樓,
一宿行人自可愁。
潮落夜江斜月裏,
兩三星火是瓜州。

The Jinling Crossing          Zhang Hu (785-849)

On a small hill sits the Jinling Crossing hostel,
Putting up there for the night a wayfarer is plagued by nostalgic dismals,
Amidst the ebbing tide the fading moon glows,
In the distance a few lamp lights over Guaizhou twinkle.