隋宮 李商隱

隋宮     李商隱 (813-858)
紫泉宮殿鎖煙霞，欲取蕪城作帝家。
玉璽不緣歸日角，錦帆應是到天涯。
于今腐草無螢火，終古垂楊有暮鴉。
地下若逢陳後主，豈宜重問後庭花。

Sui Palaces              Li Shangyin (813-858)

The purple spring waters have the old Sui palaces occluded and encircled,

The emperor of Sui once tried to take Wu City to be his imperial abode,
Had the chosen emperor Tai Zong not been bestowed the imperial seal of rule,
The emperor of Sui would have been travelling in his grand ship of brocade sail to end of world,
Now these palaces of Sui are dilapidated strewing with rotten grasses devoid even of worm glows,
These weeping ancient willows sans crows in yore days are now teeming with evening crows,
If the emperor of Sui ever comes across the second ruler of Chen in the netherworld,
Would he care to broach on the subject of the debauched song of the times The Backyard Blows.

 

遣悲懷(其一) 元稹

遣悲懷(其一)    元稹 (779-831)
謝公最小偏憐女，自嫁黔婁百事乖。
顧我無衣搜藎篋，泥他沽酒拔金釵。
野蔬充膳甘長藿，落葉添薪仰古槐。
今日俸錢過十萬，與君營奠復營齋。

Airing My Pent Up Grief (Poem No. 1)        

Yuan Zhen (779-831)

The youngest daughter of her father my wife is his eye’s apple,

After marrying to me a man as poor as Qian Lou everything became direful,
Seeing me not adequately clad she would scour her ragged luggage to find something for me to put on,
When I needed money to buy wine I would cozen her into selling her hair jewels,
When we had nothing to eat she would collect wild vegetable and bean husks for a tasteful meal,
She always looked up to old pagoda tree for its fallen leaves as fuel,
Today my emolument is over a hundred thousand coin pieces in all,
I could only make generous offerings in libating you while paying my homage of awe,
And enlist monks to perform decent ceremony of memorials with decent vegetarian dishes to have them regaled.

 

征人怨 柳中庸

征人怨     柳中庸 (唐)
歲歲金河復玉關，

朝朝馬策與刀環。
三春白雪歸青冢，

萬里黃河繞黑山。

An Expeditionary Soldier’s Resentments        

Liu Zhongyong (Tang Poet)

Year in year out between the Gold River and the Jade Gate Pass we shuttle,

Day in day out horse whips we flail and sword roundlets we jangle,
Out in the borders spring already covers the green graves with snow,
The thousands mile long Yellow River has the Black Mountain encircled.

 

春怨 劉方平

春怨      劉方平 (唐)
紗窗日落漸黃昏，

金屋無人見淚痕。
寂寞空庭春欲晚，

梨花滿地不開門。

Spring Chagrins          Liu Fangping (Tang Poet)

The sun on the portiere fades away as night falls,

In her golden boudoir nobody has ever seen any clue of her tear trail,
In a desolate empty courtyard spring is drawing  to its close,
Her doors are still closely shut despite the courtyard is strewn with fallen pear petals.

 

插秧詩 布袋和尚

插秧詩    布袋和尚(唐)

手把青秧插滿田，
低頭便見水中天，
六根清淨方為道，

退步原來是向前。

Planting Rice Seedlings         Monk Cloth Sack (Tang)

Planting rice seedlings all over the field,
Bending yourself you see the boundless sky right in the water clear and real,
You'll appreciate the true meaning of Buddhism when you rid all scruples of your senses and feels,
By stepping backward eventually go forward you will.

 

無題(其二) 李商隱

無題(其二)     李商隱 (813-858)
颯颯東風細雨來，芙蓉塘外有輕雷。
金蟾嚙鎖燒香入，玉虎牽絲汲井回。
賈氏窺簾韓掾少，宓妃留枕魏王才。
春心莫共花爭發，一寸相思一寸灰。

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

Amidst rustling rustles of the east wind come mizzles,

Beyond the lotus pond crackles a light thunder bolt,
Through the locks wisps of smoke from the gold toads animated burner whirl round the water pails,
You’ve probably returned from drawing water from the silk hooped jade tiger trolley attached well,
The daughter of Jia Yun had a crush on his handsome young vassal,
Admiring his literary ingenuity the Naiad of River Luo gifted Prince Zhi of Wai a lover token pillow,
Don’t burn out your spring yearnings with the vernal blows,
Every inch of lovesick turns out into an inch of ash coal.

 

自河南經亂,關內阻饑,兄弟離散,各在一處.因望月有感,聊書所懷,寄上浮梁大兄,于潛七兄,烏江十五兄,兼示符離及下邽弟妹

自河南經亂,關內阻饑,兄弟離散,各在一處.因望月有感,聊書所懷,寄上浮梁大兄,于潛七兄,烏江十五兄,兼示符離及下邽弟妹

白居易 (772-846)
時難年荒世業空，弟兄羈旅各西東。
田園寥落幹戈後，骨肉流離道路中。
吊影分為千裏雁，辭根散作九秋蓬。
共看明月應垂淚，一夜鄉心五處同。

Being Caught in Turmoils and Famines South of the River and Post My feelings Under the Moon to My Siblings Scattered in Five Places            Bai Juyi (772-846)

In these tumultuous times we have lost all our family estates and chattels,

Our siblings are scattered and straggling all over different social milieus,
Gardens and manors crumpled and shriveled after the turmoils,
Kindreds are left wretched and forlornly struggling amidst paths of doles,
A lone goose grieving over its desolate shadow away from its companions in thousands of miles,
Blown away from my roots I am a forlorn piece of dead weed in the fall,
Together we contemplate the full moon I am sure our tears will fall,
Scattered in five places our nostalgia should be the same saddening for us all.