Thursday, 30 March 2017

歸雁 杜甫

歸雁     杜甫(712-770)
春來萬里客,亂定幾年歸。
腸斷江城雁,高高正北飛。

Returning Wild Geese      Du Fu (712-770)
Upon spring’s arrival, as outlanders forlornly drifting thousands of miles afield,
The unrest dies down, when can I go back to my homeland bield,
Across River Jin soar teams of wild geese files,
Highly highly to the north they gladly sail,
Bringing with them this stranded straggler’s bruised soul.



Sunday, 26 March 2017

鷓鴣天 辛棄疾

鷓鴣天    辛棄疾 (1140-1207)
晚日寒鴉一片愁。柳塘新綠卻溫柔。
若教眼底無離恨,不信人間有白頭。
腸已斷,淚難收。相思重上小紅樓。
情知已被山遮斷,頻倚闌干不自由。

Zhe Gu Tian         Xin Qiji (1140-1207)

The wintry crows amidst the setting sun bring a surge in me a spate of dismals,
Only the viridity of the burgeoning pond willows console me with some comfort of being genial,
If I’ve not been excruciated by the torture of the asunder disposal,
I wouldn’t believe anyone would have his hair turned hoar under this sorrow.
With a bruised soul I can’t stop my tears flow,
Pining for her up the little red chamber I again scramble,
The mountains have already had my affections mangled,
Leaning on the balustrade gazing afar over and over again I am deeply ruffled.


Wednesday, 22 March 2017

卜算子 劉克莊

卜算子        劉克莊 (1187-1269)
片片蝶衣輕,點點猩紅小。
道是天公不惜花,百種千般巧。
朝見樹頭繁,暮見枝頭少。
道是天公果惜花,雨洗風吹了。

Bu Suan Zi         Liu Kezhuang (1187-1269)
Every petal gossamer and gracile,
Every scarlet dot lithe and svelte,
Who says the Heaven cares not for the blows,
Why should It exhaust Its tricks to make them in such myriad lovely and graceful modes,
In the morning you’ll see them teeming on the boughs,
At dusk you’ll only see few and little,
If Heaven really cares for the blows,
How come getting rid of them with squalls.



Saturday, 18 March 2017

百憂集行 杜甫

百憂集行      杜甫 (712-770)
憶年十五心尚孩 , 健如黃犢走復來。
庭前八月梨棗熟 , 一日上樹能千回。
即今倏忽已五十 , 坐臥只多少行立。
強將笑語供主人 , 悲見生涯百憂集。
入門依舊四壁空 , 老妻睹我顏色同。
癡兒不知父子禮 , 叫怒索飯啼門東。

A Ballad on My Accumulated Habdabs          Du Fu (712-770)

When I was fifteen I was still as naïve as a child,
Running all the time as virile as a calf,
When pears and dates ripened in my courtyard in the eighth month,
Up the trees a thousand times a day to have them gathered I scrambled,
In the trice of a noddle I am now fifty years old,
Instead of standing most of the time I could only around loll,
Most of the time I could only broach pleasantry to have my superiors truckled,
Thinking of all the difficulties of my life accumulated angst piles,
In abject poverty there is virtually nothing within my household,
Speechless my old wife looking the same angstful,
My starving naïve children ignoring all the etiquettes staring at the kitchen door just mewl.



Tuesday, 14 March 2017

永遇樂 李清照

永遇樂     李清照(1084-1151)
落日熔金,暮雲合璧,人在何處?
染柳煙濃,吹梅笛怨,春意知幾許!
元宵佳節,融和天氣,次第豈無風雨?
來相召,香車寶馬,謝他酒朋詩侶。
中州盛日,閨門多暇,記得偏重三五。
鋪翠冠兒,捻金雪柳,簇帶爭濟楚。

如今憔悴,風鬟霧鬢,怕見夜間出去。
不如向、簾兒底下,聽人笑語。

Yong Yu Le           Li Qingzhao (1084-1151)

The setting sun’s flush is a layer of painted gold,
Colourful clouds heaping up like a platform of emerald,
Where am I at this while,
Heavy brumes shroud the willows,
Fifes are playing out the miserable tunes of the Fallen Plum Blossom Blow,
How long has spring left to go?
This Lanterns Festival the weather’s fine and genial,
Anon, who can portend there won’t suddenly come a white squall,
Many a boon partner and fellow skald,
On coursers and fragrant curricles,
Come inviting me to join them play the gallivant to my refusal,
In the heyday of the Capital, boudoirs ladies used to insouciantly idle,
They liked particularly to celebrate the Lanterns Festival,
On this day they adorned their hats with kingfisher feathers of emerald,
Exquisitely adorning their hair with gold filigree snow like bundles of silk willows,
Now haggard with a stricken face, going out at night is what I hate most,
I’d rather cache under the portiere and harken to people’s ridicules and scoffs.


Friday, 10 March 2017

絕句 杜甫

絕句    杜甫(712-770)
遲日江山麗 , 春風花草香。
泥融飛燕子 , 沙暖睡鴛鴦。

A Jue Ju (Snapped Lines Poem)   Du Fu (712-770)

The day gets longer and longer as spring nears its end of call,
Mountains and rivers strut scintillating with graciously appealing thrills,
The lovely sun and zephyr are both soothing and genial,
New flowers and grasses imbue the air with whiffs of delightful smell,
The soil is well sodden amidst busily shuttling swallows,
Basking in the soothing sun on the warm sands are sleeping mandarin duck couples.


Monday, 6 March 2017

絕句 杜甫

絕句    杜甫 (712-770)
江碧鳥逾白 , 山青花欲燃。
今春看又過 , 何日是歸年?

A Jue Ju (Snapped Lines Poem)    Du Fu (712-770)

On the hyaline azure river water the swimming birds look conspicuously whiter than usual,
The mountain behind my house stands graciously verduously sheenful,
Flowers there look flamboyant like flaring bouquet bundles,
Anon this spring will soon end in the trice of a noddle,
When will be the day I can return to my home household.


Thursday, 2 March 2017

朱鷺 張籍

朱鷺     張籍 (766─830)
翩翩兮朱鷺,來泛春塘棲綠樹。
羽毛如翦色如染,遠飛欲下雙翅斂。
避人引子入深塹,動處水紋開灩灩。
誰知豪家網爾軀,不如飲啄江海隅。

Ode to the Ibis           Zhang Jie (766─830)
Daintily Daintly she cuts a figure sublimely elegant and graceful,
Bathing and roosting on the verdant trees of the spring pool,
Plumes of her scissorwings are dye instilled,
After soaring afar she alights with wings folded,
To avoid being pestered she takes her offsprings to take refuge deep in the dales,
Her movements in the water ruffle it to bloom into enchanting dimples,
Please don’t fall prey to becoming the pet of the rich and powerful,
You had better stick to fishing and drinking in the river shoals.