長相思 万俟詠

長相思    雨        万俟詠 (宋)
一聲聲，一更更。
窗外芭蕉窗裡燈，此時無限情。
夢難成，恨難平。
不道愁人不喜聽，空階滴到明。
Chang Xiang Si   Rain     Moqi Yong (Song Poet)

Every rain beat every dripping dingle,

Amidst every watch drum beat pommel,
Chimimg in with the rain beats on the plantains outside the window,
Plunging me into infinite dismals,
However hard slumber is to lay hold,
So is to get over my long disgruntles,
Like it or not despite your doles,
The rain is not at your disposal,
It just keeps beating on the steps of the courtyard till dawn is over the threshold.

 

 

柳梢青 劉辰翁

柳梢青     春感      劉辰翁 (1232-1297)
鐵馬蒙氈，銀花洒淚，春入愁城 。

笛裡番腔，街頭戲鼓，不是歌聲。
那堪獨坐青燈 ，想故國、高台月明。
輦下風光，山中歲月，海上心情。

Liu Shao Qing  Spring Melancholy    LIU Chenweng (1232-1297)

Armoured warhorses with rug mantle rage rampant in the old capital,

Even the lanterns of the Lantern Festival are humiliated and let their tears fall,

Spring comes silently to the unsettled gloomy capital,
The Mongolia street performers’ theatrical drums are just twaddles but nothing musical,
I just can’t stand sitting solitarily under the green lamp to dwell on the bright moon beside the high tower of the old capital,
The grandeur the old Emperor molded,
Reminds me of the frustrated envoy Su Wu who stuck to shepherding to avoid being on the conqueror’s behoof.

 

 

臨江仙 陳與義

臨江仙  夜登小閣，憶洛中舊遊    陳與義 (1090- 1138)
憶昔午橋橋上飲，坐中都是豪英。

長溝流月去無聲，杏花疏影裡，吹笛到天明。
二十餘年如一夢，此身雖在堪驚。
閒登小閣看新晴，古今多少事，漁唱起三更。

Lin Jiang Xin       Chen Yuyi (1090- 1138)

Mounting the Little Chamber at night, I recall my previous visits to Luoyang

Recalling that year on the Noon Bridge I threw a booze,

Joining me there were many a hero,
In the glittering waters of the long fosse the moon serenely flowed,
Amidst the checkered apricot blossom shadows I played the fife throughout the night till dawn called,
Twenty years fleeted away as a dream cameo,
Though now I am still hearty and hale,
With my country broken in a debacle,
I am greatly appalled,
Insouciantly I mount this chamber again to relish the scenery under the fresh moon glow,
Presently all stories of the past ages in the midnight fishermen songs dissolve.

 

利州南渡 溫庭筠

利州南渡     溫庭筠 (812-870)

澹然空水對斜暉，曲島蒼茫接翠微。

波上馬嘶看棹去，柳邊人歇待船歸。

數叢沙草群鷗散，萬頃江田一鷺飛。

誰解乘舟尋范蠡，五湖煙水獨忘機。

The South Crossing at Li Zhou       Wen Tingjun (812-870)

 

The hyaline lake waters lie placidly under the fading sun’s slanting glow,

The winding island spreads to join the azure mountain amidst gloomy mizzles,

Amidst the whining of horses over the waters goes a shuttle punt ferry boat,

People stand beside the shore side willows waiting for the return trip of the boat,

Amid the grasses on the sands scatter the sea gulls,

Over the million acres of spreading fields soars a lone heron,

Who can understand my seeking of the great highly revered Fan Li,

Amidst the misty lake waters he had himself exiled.

 

贈蕭瑀 唐太宗

贈蕭瑀        唐太宗李世民 

疾風知勁草，板蕩識誠臣。
勇夫安知義，智者必懷仁。

To Xiao Yu       Li Shimin (Emperor Taizong of Tang)

Only amidst squall can one tell what grass stands sturdy most,

Only through turbulent times can one identify the truly leal,
The uncouth knows nothing of the wise man’s motto,
The wise man knows only magnanimity will eventually prevail.

無題(其二) 李商隱

無題(其二)     李商隱 (813-858)

重幃深下莫愁堂，臥後清宵細細長。
神女生涯原是夢，小姑居處本無郎。
風波不信菱枝弱，月露誰教桂葉香。
直道相思了無益，未妨惆悵是清狂。

Untitled (Poem No. 2)     Li Shangyin (813-858)

Layers of portieres drape over and over the Singer Mo Chou Hall,

After going to bed she finds the serene night passes really slow,

The life of a fairy hetaera is only chapters of dream cameos,

This single girl is living alone without a spousal,

The stormy waves wouldn’t believe caltrop stems are fragile and keep up their jostles,

From the fragrant osmanthus leaves the moon dews drivel,

Just pining for lovesick is inutile,

She’d rather her dismals turn into hysteroid.

青玉案 無名氏

青玉案    無名氏(宋)

年年社日停針線。怎忍見、雙飛燕。
今日江城春已半。一身猶在，亂山深處，寂寞溪橋畔。
春衫著破誰針線。點點行行淚痕滿。落日解鞍芳草岸。
花無人戴，酒無人勸，醉也無人管。

Qing Yu An    Anonymous (Song Poet)

Every year on the Harvest Festival she stops plying with the thread and needle,

Desolate in her boudoir she can’t bear seeing the pairs of capers cutting swallows,
With spring half gone the green green grass in my homeland still rankly sprawls,
Stranded solitarily deep amidst the mountains by a desolate bridge beside a rill,
Torn and rugged are my spring clothes but there is nobody to get them patched up well,
Feeling aggrieved I can’t stop my tears fall,
Under the setting sun I unsaddle my horse by the rank grass paved shore of the rill,
I’d like to wear a blossom on my head but there is no one at my disposal,
I’d also like to revel in a booze but have no boon fellows,
Nobody will care even if I am sozzled.

 

 

憶秦娥 劉辰翁

憶秦娥    劉辰翁 (1232-1297)

中齋上元客散感舊，賦《憶秦娥》見屬，一讀凄然。隨韻寄情，不覺悲甚。

燒燈節，朝京道上風和雪。

風和雪，江山如舊，朝京人絕。
百年短短興亡別，與君猶對當時月。
當時月，照人燭淚，照人梅髮。

Yi Qin E             LIU Chenweng (1232-1297)

After his guests for the Lantern Festival have scattered, my friend Deng Yan was mused into writing a verse on this tune and bestowed it on me. So I also write one to the same rhyme to echo his.

This Lantern Festival the road to the old capital is raging with squally rain and snow,

Infused with squally rain and snow, even our eyes are daubily muddled,
While our country’s mountains and rivers strut as usual,
The number of people travelling on the road to the capital comes to null,
In the span of a century a kingdom comes to its debacle,
We are still basking in the moon of that epoch,
The moon of that epoch,
Still shining on our hair as white as the plum blossoms as well as the weeping candles.