An anthology of 320 poems. Discover Chinese poetry in its golden age and some of the greatest Chinese poets.
卷01、五言古詩 卷02、五言樂府 卷03、七言古詩 卷04、七言樂府 卷05、五言律詩 卷06、七言律詩 卷07、七言樂府 卷08、五言絕句 卷09、五言樂府 卷10、七言絕句 卷11、七言樂府
001 五言古詩 張九齡 感遇其一 孤鴻海上來， 池潢不敢顧； 側見雙翠鳥， 巢在三珠樹。 矯矯珍木巔， 得無金丸懼？ 美服患人指， 高明逼神惡。 今我游冥冥， 弋者何所慕？ Five-character-ancient-verse Zhang Jiuling THOUGHTS I A lonely swan from the sea flies, To alight on puddles it does not deign. Nesting in the poplar of pearls It spies and questions green birds twain: "Don’t you fear the threat of slings, Perched on top of branches so high? Nice clothes invite pointing fingers, High climbers god’s good will defy. Bird-hunters will crave me in vain, For I roam the limitless sky." 002 五言古詩 張九齡 感遇其二 蘭葉春葳蕤， 桂華秋皎潔； 欣欣此生意， 自爾為佳節。 誰知林棲者？ 聞風坐相悅， 草木有本心， 何求美人折？ Five-character-ancient-verse Zhang Jiuling ORCHID AND ORANGE I Tender orchid-leaves in spring And cinnamon- blossoms bright in autumn Are as self- contained as life is, Which conforms them to the seasons. Yet why will you think that a forest-hermit, Allured by sweet winds and contented with beauty, Would no more ask to-be transplanted THan Would any other natural flower? 003 五言古詩 張九齡 感遇其三 幽人歸獨臥， 滯慮洗孤清， 持此謝高鳥， 因之傳遠情。 日夕懷空意， 人誰感至精？ 飛沈理自隔， 何所慰吾誠？ Five-character-ancient-verse Zhang Jiuling THOUGHTS III The hermit in his lone abode Nurses his thoughts cleansed of care, Them he projects to the wild goose For it to his distant Sovereign to bear. Who will be moved by the sincerity Of my vain day-and-night prayer? What comfort is for my loyalty When fliers and sinkers can compare? 004 五言古詩 張九齡 感遇其四 江南有丹橘， 經冬猶綠林； 豈伊地氣暖？ 自有歲寒心。 可以薦嘉客， 奈何阻重深？ 運命惟所遇， 循環不可尋。 徒言樹桃李， 此木豈無陰？ Five-character-ancient-verse Zhang Jiuling ORCHID AND ORANGE II Here, south of the Yangzi, grows a red orangetree. All winter long its leaves are green, Not because of a warmer soil, But because its’ nature is used to the cold. Though it might serve your honourable guests, You leave it here, far below mountain and river. Circumstance governs destiny. Cause and effect are an infinite cycle. You plant your peach-trees and your plums, You forget the shade from this other tree. 005 五言古詩 李白 下終南山過斛斯山人宿置酒 暮從碧山下， 山月隨人歸； 卻顧所來徑， 蒼蒼橫翠微。 相攜及田家， 童稚開荊扉； 綠竹入幽徑， 青蘿拂行衣。 歡言得所憩， 美酒聊共揮； 長歌吟松風， 曲盡河星稀。 我醉君復樂， 陶然共忘機。 Five-character-ancient-verse Li Bai DOWN ZHONGNAN MOUNTAIN TO THE KIND PILLOW AND BOWL OF HUSI Down the blue mountain in the evening, Moonlight was my homeward escort. Looking back, I saw my path Lie in levels of deep shadow.... I was passing the farm-house of a friend, When his children called from a gate of thorn And led me twining through jade bamboos Where green vines caught and held my clothes. And I was glad of a chance to rest And glad of a chance to drink with my friend.... We sang to the tune of the wind in the pines; And we finished our songs as the stars went down, When, I being drunk and my friend more than happy, Between us we forgot the world. 006 五言古詩 李白 月下獨酌 花間一壺酒， 獨酌無相親； 舉杯邀明月， 對影成三人。 月既不解飲， 影徒隨我身； 暫伴月將影， 行樂須及春。 我歌月徘徊， 我舞影零亂； 醒時同交歡， 醉后各分散。 永結無情游， 相期邈云漢。 Five-character-ancient-verse Li Bai DRINKING ALONE WITH THE MOON From a pot of wine among the flowers I drank alone. There was no one with me -- Till, raising my cup, I asked the bright moon To bring me my shadow and make us three. Alas, the moon was unable to drink And my shadow tagged me vacantly; But still for a while I had these friends To cheer me through the end of spring.... I sang. The moon encouraged me. I danced. My shadow tumbled after. As long as I knew, we were boon companions. And then I was drunk, and we lost one another. ...Shall goodwill ever be secure? I watch the long road of the River of Stars. 007 五言古詩 李白 春思 燕草如碧絲， 秦桑低綠枝； 當君懷歸日， 是妾斷腸時。 春風不相識， 何事入羅幃？ Five-character-ancient-verse Li Bai IN SPRING Your grasses up north are as blue as jade, Our mulberries here curve green-threaded branches; And at last you think of returning home, Now when my heart is almost broken.... O breeze of the spring, since I dare not know you, Why part the silk curtains by my bed? 008 五言古詩 杜甫 望岳 岱宗夫如何？ 齊魯青未了。 造化鐘神秀， 陰陽割昏曉。 蕩胸生層云， 決眥入歸鳥。 會當凌絕頂， 一覽眾山小。 又作岳 Five-character-ancient-verse Du Fu A VIEW OF TAISHAN What shall I say of the Great Peak? -- The ancient dukedoms are everywhere green, Inspired and stirred by the breath of creation, With the Twin Forces balancing day and night. ...I bare my breast toward opening clouds, I strain my sight after birds flying home. When shall I reach the top and hold All mountains in a single glance? 009 五言古詩 杜甫 贈衛八處士 人生不相見， 動如參與商， 今夕復何夕？ 共此燈燭光。 少壯能幾時？ 鬢發各已蒼。 訪舊半為鬼， 驚呼熱中腸。 焉知二十載， 重上君子堂。 昔別君未婚， 兒女忽成行； 怡然敬父執， 問我來何方。 問答乃未已， 驅兒羅酒漿。 夜雨剪春韭， 新炊間黃粱。 主稱會面難， 一舉累十觴； 十觴亦不醉， 感子故意長。 明日隔山岳， 世事兩茫茫。 Five-character-ancient-verse Du Fu TO MY RETIRED FRIEND WEI It is almost as hard for friends to meet As for the morning and evening stars. Tonight then is a rare event, Joining, in the candlelight, Two men who were young not long ago But now are turning grey at the temples. ...To find that half our friends are dead Shocks us, burns our hearts with grief. We little guessed it would be twenty years Before I could visit you again. When I went away, you were still unmarried; But now these boys and girls in a row Are very kind to their father’s old friend. They ask me where I have been on my journey; And then, when we have talked awhile, They bring and show me wines and dishes, Spring chives cut in the night-rain And brown rice cooked freshly a special way. ...My host proclaims it a festival, He urges me to drink ten cups -- But what ten cups could make me as drunk As I always am with your love in my heart? ...Tomorrow the mountains will separate us; After tomorrow-who can say? 010 五言古詩 杜甫 佳人 絕代有佳人， 幽居在空谷； 自云良家子， 零落依草木。 關中昔喪亂， 兄弟遭殺戮； 官高何足論？ 不得收骨肉。 世情惡衰歇， 萬事隨轉燭。 夫婿輕薄兒， 新人美如玉。 合昏尚知時， 鴛鴦不獨宿； 但見新人笑， 那聞舊人哭？ 在山泉水清， 出山泉水濁。 侍婢賣珠回， 牽蘿補茅屋。 摘花不插發， 采柏動盈掬。 天寒翠袖薄， 日暮倚修竹。 Five-character-ancient-verse Du Fu ALONE IN HER BEAUTY Who is lovelier than she? Yet she lives alone in an empty valley. She tells me she came from a good family Which is humbled now into the dust. ...When trouble arose in the Kuan district, Her brothers and close kin were killed. What use were their high offices, Not even shielding their own lives? -- The world has but scorn for adversity; Hope goes out, like the light of a candle. Her husband, with a vagrant heart, Seeks a new face like a new piece of jade; And when morning-glories furl at night And mandarin-ducks lie side by side, All he can see is the smile of the new love, While the old love weeps unheard. The brook was pure in its mountain source, But away from the mountain its waters darken. ...Waiting for her maid to come from selling pearls For straw to cover the roof again, She picks a few flowers, no longer for her hair, And lets pine-needles fall through her fingers, And, forgetting her thin silk sleeve and the cold, She leans in the sunset by a tall bamboo. 011 五言古詩 杜甫 夢李白之一 死別已吞聲， 生別常惻惻。 江南瘴癘地， 逐客無消息。 故人入我夢， 明我長相憶； 君今在羅網， 何以有羽翼？ 恐非平生魂， 路遠不可測。 魂來楓林青， 魂返關塞黑； 落月滿屋梁， 猶疑照顏色。 水深波浪闊， 無使蛟龍得。 Five-character-ancient-verse Du Fu SEEING Li Bai IN A DREAM I There are sobs when death is the cause of parting; But life has its partings again and again. ...From the poisonous damps of the southern river You had sent me not one sign from your exile -- Till you came to me last night in a dream, Because I am always thinking of you. I wondered if it were really you, Venturing so long a journey. You came to me through the green of a forest, You disappeared by a shadowy fortress.... Yet out of the midmost mesh of your snare, How could you lift your wings and use them? ...I woke, and the low moon’s glimmer on a rafter Seemed to be your face, still floating in the air. ...There were waters to cross, they were wild and tossing; If you fell, there were dragons and rivermonsters. 012 五言古詩 杜甫 夢李白之二 浮云終日行， 游子久不至； 三夜頻夢君， 情親見君意。 告歸常局促， 苦道來不易。 江湖多風波， 舟楫恐失墜。 出門搔白首， 若負平生志。 冠蓋滿京華， 斯人獨憔悴。 孰云網恢恢？ 將老身反累！ 千秋萬歲名， 寂寞身后事。 Five-character-ancient-verse Du Fu SEEING Li Bai IN A DREAM II This cloud, that has drifted all day through the sky, May, like a wanderer, never come back.... Three nights now I have dreamed of you -- As tender, intimate and real as though I were awake. And then, abruptly rising to go, You told me the perils of adventure By river and lake-the storms, the wrecks, The fears that are borne on a little boat; And, here in my doorway, you rubbed your white head As if there were something puzzling you. ...Our capital teems with officious people, While you are alone and helpless and poor. Who says that the heavenly net never fails? It has brought you ill fortune, old as you are. ...A thousand years’ fame, ten thousand years’ fame- What good, when you are dead and gone. 013 五言古詩 王維 送別 下馬飲君酒， 問君何所之？ 君言不得意， 歸臥南山陲。 但去莫復聞， 白云無盡時。 又作問 Five-character-quatrain Wang Wei AT PARTING I dismount from my horse and I offer you wine, And I ask you where you are going and why. And you answer: "I am discontent And would rest at the foot of the southern mountain. So give me leave and ask me no questions. White clouds pass there without end." 014 五言古詩 王維 送綦毋潛落第還鄉 圣代無隱者， 英靈盡來歸， 遂令東山客， 不得顧采薇。 既至金門遠， 孰云吾道非？ 江淮度寒食， 京洛縫春衣。 置酒長安道， 同心與我違； 行當浮桂棹， 未幾拂荊扉。 遠樹帶行客， 孤城當落暉。 吾謀適不用， 勿謂知音稀？ Five-character-quatrain Wang Wei TO QIWU QIAN BOUND HOME AFTER FAILING IN AN EXAMINATION In a happy reign there should be no hermits; The wise and able should consult together.... So you, a man of the eastern mountains, Gave up your life of picking herbs And came all the way to the Gate of Gold -- But you found your devotion unavailing. ...To spend the Day of No Fire on one of the southern rivers, You have mended your spring clothes here in these northern cities. I pour you the farewell wine as you set out from the capital -- Soon I shall be left behind here by my bosomfriend. In your sail-boat of sweet cinnamon-wood You will float again toward your own thatch door, Led along by distant trees To a sunset shining on a far-away town. ...What though your purpose happened to fail, Doubt not that some of us can hear high music. 015 五言古詩 王維 青溪 言入黃花川， 每逐青溪水； 隨山將萬轉， 趣途無百里。 聲喧亂石中， 色靜深松里； 漾漾泛菱荇， 澄澄映葭葦。 我心素已閑， 清川澹如此。 請留盤石上， 垂釣將已矣！ Five-character-quatrain Wang Wei A GREEN STREAM I have sailed the River of Yellow Flowers, Borne by the channel of a green stream, Rounding ten thousand turns through the mountains On a journey of less than thirty miles.... Rapids hum over heaped rocks; But where light grows dim in the thick pines, The surface of an inlet sways with nut-horns And weeds are lush along the banks. ...Down in my heart I have always been as pure As this limpid water is.... Oh, to remain on a broad flat rock And to cast a fishing-line forever! 016 五言古詩 王維 渭川田家 斜光照墟落， 窮巷牛羊歸。 野老念牧童， 倚杖候荊扉。 雉雊麥苗秀， 蠶眠桑葉稀。 田夫荷鋤立， 相見語依依。 即此羨閑逸， 悵然吟式微。 又作至 Five-character-quatrain Wang Wei A FARM-HOUSE ON THE WEI RIVER In the slant of the sun on the country-side, Cattle and sheep trail home along the lane; And a rugged old man in a thatch door Leans on a staff and thinks of his son, the herdboy. There are whirring pheasants? full wheat-ears, Silk-worms asleep, pared mulberry-leaves. And the farmers, returning with hoes on their shoulders, Hail one another familiarly. ...No wonder I long for the simple life And am sighing the old song, Oh, to go Back Again! 017 五言古詩 王維 西施詠 艷色天下重， 西施寧久微？ 朝為越溪女， 暮作吳宮妃。 賤日豈殊眾？ 貴來方悟稀。 邀人傅脂粉， 不自著羅衣， 君寵益嬌態， 君憐無是非。 當時浣紗伴， 莫得同車歸。 持謝鄰家子， 效顰安可希？ Five-character-quatrain Wang Wei THE BEAUTIFUL XI SHI Since beauty is honoured all over the Empire, How could Xi Shi remain humbly at home? -- Washing clothes at dawn by a southern lake -- And that evening a great lady in a palace of the north: Lowly one day, no different from the others, The next day exalted, everyone praising her. No more would her own hands powder her face Or arrange on her shoulders a silken robe. And the more the King loved her, the lovelier she looked, Blinding him away from wisdom. ...Girls who had once washed silk beside her Were kept at a distance from her chariot. And none of the girls in her neighbours’ houses By pursing their brows could copy her beauty. 018 五言古詩 孟浩然 秋登蘭山寄張五 北山白云里， 隱者自怡悅； 相望始登高， 心隨雁飛滅。 愁因薄暮起， 興是清秋發。 時見歸村人， 沙行渡頭歇。 天邊樹若薺， 江畔洲如月。 何當載酒來， 共醉重陽節。 Five-character-ancient-verse Meng Haoran ON CLIMBING ORCHID MOUNTAIN IN THE AUTUMN TO ZHANG On a northern peak among white clouds You have found your hermitage of peace; And now, as I climb this mountain to see you, High with the wildgeese flies my heart. The quiet dusk might seem a little sad If this autumn weather were not so brisk and clear; I look down at the river bank, with homeward-bound villagers Resting on the sand till the ferry returns; There are trees at the horizon like a row of grasses And against the river’s rim an island like the moon I hope that you will come and meet me, bringing a basket of wine -- And we’ll celebrate together the Mountain Holiday. 019 五言古詩 孟浩然 夏日南亭懷辛大 山光忽西落， 池月漸東上。 散發乘夜涼， 開軒臥閑敞。 荷風送香氣， 竹露滴清響。 欲取鳴琴彈， 恨無知音賞。 感此懷故人， 中宵勞夢想。 Five-character-ancient-verse Meng Haoran IN SUMMER AT THE SOUTH PAVILION THINKING OF XING The mountain-light suddenly fails in the west, In the east from the lake the slow moon rises. I loosen my hair to enjoy the evening coolness And open my window and lie down in peace. The wind brings me odours of lotuses, And bamboo-leaves drip with a music of dew.... I would take up my lute and I would play, But, alas, who here would understand? And so I think of you, old friend, O troubler of my midnight dreams ! 020 五言古詩 孟浩然 宿業師山房待丁大不至 夕陽度西嶺， 群壑倏已暝； 松月生夜涼， 風泉滿清聽。 樵人歸欲盡， 煙鳥棲初定。 之子期宿來， 孤琴候蘿徑。 Five-character-ancient-verse Meng Haoran AT THE MOUNTAIN-LODGE OF THE BUDDHIST PRIEST YE WAITING IN VAIN FOR MY FRIEND DING Now that the sun has set beyond the western range, Valley after valley is shadowy and dim.... And now through pine-trees come the moon and the chill of evening, And my ears feel pure with the sound of wind and water Nearly all the woodsmen have reached home, Birds have settled on their perches in the quiet mist.... And still -- because you promised -- I am waiting for you, waiting, Playing lute under a wayside vine. 021 五言古詩 王昌齡 同從弟南齋玩月憶山陰崔少府 高臥南齋時， 開帷月初吐； 清輝淡水木， 演漾在窗戶。 苒苒幾盈虛？ 澄澄變今古。 美人清江畔， 是夜越吟苦。 千里其如何？ 微風吹蘭杜。 Five-character-ancient-verse Wang Changling WITH MY BROTHER AT THE SOUTH STUDY THINKING IN THE MOONLIGHT OF VICE-PREFECT CUI IN SHANYIN Lying on a high seat in the south study, We have lifted the curtain-and we see the rising moon Brighten with pure light the water and the grove And flow like a wave on our window and our door. It will move through the cycle, full moon and then crescent again, Calmly, beyond our wisdom, altering new to old. ...Our chosen one, our friend, is now by a limpid river -- Singing, perhaps, a plaintive eastern song. He is far, far away from us, three hundred miles away. And yet a breath of orchids comes along the wind. 022 五言古詩 邱為 尋西山隱者不遇 絕頂一茅茨， 直上三十里； 扣關無僮仆， 窺室惟案幾。 若非巾柴車？ 應是釣秋水。 差池不相見， 黽勉空仰止。 草色新雨中， 松聲晚窗里； 及茲契幽絕， 自足蕩心耳。 雖無賓主意， 頗得清凈理。 興盡方下山， 何必待之子。 Five-character-ancient-verse Qiu Wei AFTER MISSING THE RECLUSE ON THE WESTERN MOUNTAIN To your hermitage here on the top of the mountain I have climbed, without stopping, these ten miles. I have knocked at your door, and no one answered; I have peeped into your room, at your seat beside the table. Perhaps you are out riding in your canopied chair, Or fishing, more likely, in some autumn pool. Sorry though I am to be missing you, You have become my meditation -- The beauty of your grasses, fresh with rain, And close beside your window the music of your pines. I take into my being all that I see and hear, Soothing my senses, quieting my heart; And though there be neither host nor guest, Have I not reasoned a visit complete? ...After enough, I have gone down the mountain. Why should I wait for you any longer? 023 五言古詩 綦毋潛 春泛若耶溪 幽意無斷絕， 此去隨所偶； 晚風吹行舟， 花路入溪口。 際夜轉西壑， 隔山望南斗。 潭煙飛溶溶， 林月低向后。 生事且彌漫， 愿為持竿叟。 Five-character-ancient-verse Qiwu Qian A BOAT IN SPRING ON RUOYA LAKE Thoughtful elation has no end: Onward I bear it to whatever come. And my boat and I, before the evening breeze Passing flowers, entering the lake, Turn at nightfall toward the western valley, Where I watch the south star over the mountain And a mist that rises, hovering soft, And the low moon slanting through the trees; And I choose to put away from me every worldly matter And only to be an old man with a fishing-pole. 024 五言古詩 常建 宿王昌齡隱居 清溪深不測， 隱處唯孤云； 松際露微月， 清光猶為君。 茅亭宿花影， 藥院滋苔紋。 余亦謝時去， 西山鸞鶴群。 Five-character-ancient-verse Chang Jian AT WANG CHANGLIN’ S RETREAT Here, beside a clear deep lake, You live accompanied by clouds; Or soft through the pine the moon arrives To be your own pure-hearted friend. You rest under thatch in the shadow of your flowers, Your dewy herbs flourish in their bed of moss. Let me leave the world. Let me alight, like you, On your western mountain with phoenixes and cranes. 025 五言古詩 岑參 與高適薛據登慈恩寺浮圖 塔勢如涌出， 孤高聳天宮； 登臨出世界， 磴道盤虛空。 突兀壓神州， 崢嶸如鬼工； 四角礙白日， 七層摩蒼穹。 下窺指高鳥， 俯聽聞驚風。 連山若波濤， 奔湊如朝東。 青槐夾馳道， 宮館何玲瓏？ 秋色從西來， 蒼然滿關中。 五陵北原上， 萬古青蒙蒙。 凈理了可悟， 勝因夙所宗。 誓將掛冠去， 覺道資無窮。 Five-character-ancient-verse Cen Can ASCENDING THE PAGODA AT THE TEMPLE OF KIND FAVOUR WITH GAO SHI AND XUE JU The pagoda, rising abruptly from earth, Reaches to the very Palace of Heaven.... Climbing, we seem to have left the world behind us, With the steps we look down on hung from space. It overtops a holy land And can only have been built by toil of the spirit. Its four sides darken the bright sun, Its seven stories cut the grey clouds; Birds fly down beyond our sight, And the rapid wind below our hearing; Mountain-ranges, toward the east, Appear to be curving and flowing like rivers; Far green locust-trees line broad roads Toward clustered palaces and mansions; Colours of autumn, out of the west, Enter advancing through the city; And northward there lie, in five graveyards, Calm forever under dewy green grass, Those who know life’s final meaning Which all humankind must learn. ...Henceforth I put my official hat aside. To find the Eternal Way is the only happiness. 026 五言古詩 元結 賊退示官吏并序 癸卯歲，西原賊入道州，焚燒殺掠，幾盡而 去。明年，賊又攻永州，破邵，不犯此州邊 鄙而退，豈力能制敵歟？蓋蒙其傷憐而已！ 諸史何為忍苦徵斂！故作詩一篇以示官吏。 昔歲逢太平， 山林二十年。 泉源在庭戶， 洞壑當門前。 井稅有常期， 日晏猶得眠。 忽然遭時變， 數歲親戎旃。 今來典斯郡， 山夷又紛然。 城小賊不屠， 人貧傷可憐。 是以陷鄰境， 此州獨見全。 使臣將王命， 豈不如賊焉？ 令彼徵斂者， 迫之如火煎。 誰能絕人命？ 以作時世賢。 思欲委符節， 引竿自刺船， 將家就魚麥， 歸老江湖邊。 又作宴 又作世 Five-character-ancient-verse Yuan Jie TO THE TAX-COLLECTORS AFTER THE BANDITS RETREAT In the year Kuimao the bandits from Xiyuan entered Daozhou, set fire, raided, killed, and looted. The whole district was almost ruined. The next year the bandits came again and, attacking the neighbouring prefecture, Yong, passed this one by. It was not because we were strong enough to defend ourselves, but, probably, because they pitied us. And how now can these commissioners bear to impose extra taxes? I have written this poem for the collectors’ information. I still remember those days of peace -- Twenty years among mountains and forests, The pure stream running past my yard, The caves and valleys at my door. Taxes were light and regular then, And I could sleep soundly and late in the morning- Till suddenly came a sorry change. ...For years now I have been serving in the army. When I began here as an official, The mountain bandits were rising again; But the town was so small it was spared by the thieves, And the people so poor and so pitiable That all other districts were looted And this one this time let alone. ...Do you imperial commissioners Mean to be less kind than bandits? The people you force to pay the poll Are like creatures frying over a fire. And how can you sacrifice human lives, Just to be known as able collectors? -- ...Oh, let me fling down my official seal, Let me be a lone fisherman in a small boat And support my family on fish and wheat And content my old age with rivers and lakes! 027 五言古詩 韋應物 郡齋雨中與諸文士燕集 兵衛森畫戟， 宴寢凝清香。 海上風雨至， 逍遙池閣涼。 煩痾近消散， 嘉賓復滿堂。 自慚居處崇， 未睹斯民康。 理會是非遣， 性達形跡忘。 鮮肥屬時禁， 蔬果幸見嘗。 俯飲一杯酒， 仰聆金玉章。 神歡體自輕， 意欲淩風翔。 吳中盛文史， 群彥今汪洋。 方知大蕃地， 豈曰財賦強？ Five-character-ancient-verse Wei Yingwu ENTERTAINING LITERARY MEN IN MY OFFICIAL RESIDENCE ON A RAINY DAY Outside are insignia, shown in state; But here are sweet incense-clouds, quietly ours. Wind and rain, coming in from sea, Have cooled this pavilion above the lake And driven the feverish heat away From where my eminent guests are gathered. ...Ashamed though I am of my high position While people lead unhappy lives, Let us reasonably banish care And just be friends, enjoying nature. Though we have to go without fish and meat, There are fruits and vegetables aplenty. ...We bow, we take our cups of wine, We give our attention to beautiful poems. When the mind is exalted, the body is lightened And feels as if it could float in the wind. ...Suzhou is famed as a centre of letters; And all you writers, coming here, Prove that the name of a great land Is made by better things than wealth. 028 五言古詩 韋應物 初發揚子寄元大校書 凄凄去親愛， 泛泛入煙霧； 歸棹洛陽人， 殘鐘廣陵樹。 今朝為此別， 何處還相遇？ 世事波上舟， 沿洄安得住。 Five-character-ancient-verse Wei Yingwu SETTING SAIL ON THE YANGZI TO SECRETARY YUAN Wistful, away from my friends and kin, Through mist and fog I float and float With the sail that bears me toward Loyang. In Yangzhou trees linger bell-notes of evening, Marking the day and the place of our parting.... When shall we meet again and where? ...Destiny is a boat on the waves, Borne to and fro, beyond our will. 029 五言古詩 韋應物 寄全椒山中道士 今朝郡齋冷， 忽念山中客； 澗底束荊薪， 歸來煮白石。 欲持一瓢酒， 遠慰風雨夕； 落葉滿空山， 何處尋行跡。 Five-character-ancient-verse Wei Yingwu A POEM TO A TAOIST HERMIT CHUANJIAO MOUNTAIN My office has grown cold today; And I suddenly think of my mountain friend Gathering firewood down in the valley Or boiling white stones for potatoes in his hut.... I wish I might take him a cup of wine To cheer him through the evening storm; But in fallen leaves that have heaped the bare slopes, How should I ever find his footprints! 030 五言古詩 韋應物 長安遇馮著 客從東方來， 衣上灞陵雨。 問客何為來？ 采山因買斧。 冥冥花正開， 揚揚燕新乳。 昨別今已春， 鬢絲生幾縷。 Five-character-ancient-verse Wei Yingwu ON MEETING MY FRIEND FENG ZHU IN THE CAPITAL Out of the east you visit me, With the rain of Baling still on your clothes, I ask you what you have come here for; You say: "To buy an ax for cutting wood in the mountains" ...Hidden deep in a haze of blossom, Swallow fledglings chirp at ease As they did when we parted, a year ago.... How grey our temples have grown since them! 031 五言古詩 韋應物 夕次盱眙縣 落帆逗淮鎮， 停舫臨孤驛。 浩浩風起波， 冥冥日沈夕。 人歸山郭暗， 雁下蘆洲白。 獨夜憶秦關， 聽鐘未眠客。 Five-character-ancient-verse Wei Yingwu MOORING AT TWILIGHT IN YUYI DISTRICT Furling my sail near the town of Huai, I find for harbour a little cove Where a sudden breeze whips up the waves. The sun is growing dim now and sinks in the dusk. People are coming home. The bright mountain-peak darkens. Wildgeese fly down to an island of white weeds. ...At midnight I think of a northern city-gate, And I hear a bell tolling between me and sleep. 032 五言古詩 韋應物 東郊 吏舍跼終年， 出郊曠清曙。 楊柳散和風， 青山澹吾慮。 依叢適自憩， 緣澗還復去。 微雨靄芳原， 春鳩鳴何處？ 樂幽心屢止， 遵事跡猶遽； 終罷斯結廬， 慕陶真可庶。 Five-character-ancient-verse Wei Yingwu EAST OF THE TOWN From office confinement all year long, I have come out of town to be free this morning Where willows harmonize the wind And green hills lighten the cares of the world. I lean by a tree and rest myself Or wander up and down a stream. ...Mists have wet the fragrant meadows; A spring dove calls from some hidden place. ...With quiet surroundings, the mind is at peace, But beset with affairs, it grows restless again.... Here I shall finally build me a cabin, As Tao Qian built one long ago. 033 五言古詩 韋應物 送楊氏女 永日方戚戚， 出行復悠悠。 女子今有行， 大江溯輕舟。 爾輩苦無恃， 撫念益慈柔； 幼為長所育， 兩別泣不休。 對此結中腸， 義往難復留。 自小闕內訓， 事姑貽我憂； 賴茲托令門， 仁恤庶無尤。 貧儉誠所尚， 資從豈待周！ 孝恭遵婦道， 容止順其猷。 別離在今晨， 見爾當何秋？ 居閑始自遣， 臨感忽難收。 歸來視幼女， 零淚緣纓流。 Five-character-ancient-verse Wei Yingwu TO MY DAUGHTER ON HER MARRIAGE INTO THE YANG FAMILY My heart has been heavy all day long Because you have so far to go. The marriage of a girl, away from her parents, Is the launching of a little boat on a great river. ...You were very young when your mother died, Which made me the more tender of you. Your elder sister has looked out for you, And now you are both crying and cannot part. This makes my grief the harder to bear; Yet it is right that you should go. ...Having had from childhood no mother to guide you, How will you honour your mother-in-law? It’s an excellent family; they will be kind to you, They will forgive you your mistakes -- Although ours has been so pure and poor That you can take them no great dowry. Be gentle and respectful, as a woman should be, Careful of word and look, observant of good example. ...After this morning we separate, There’s no knowing for how long.... I always try to hide my feelings -- They are suddenly too much for me, When I turn and see my younger daughter With the tears running down her cheek. 034 五言古詩 柳宗元 晨詣超師院讀禪經 汲井漱寒齒， 清心拂塵服， 閑持貝葉書， 步出東齋讀。 真源了無取， 忘跡世所逐； 遺言冀可冥， 繕性何由熟？ 道人庭宇靜， 苔色連深竹； 日出霧露余， 青松如膏沐。 澹然離言說， 悟悅心自足。 Five-character-ancient-verse Liu Zongyuan READING BUDDHIST CLASSICS WITH ZHAO AT HIS TEMPLE IN THE EARLY MORNING I clean my teeth in water drawn from a cold well; And while I brush my clothes, I purify my mind; Then, slowly turning pages in the Tree-Leaf Book, I recite, along the path to the eastern shelter. ...The world has forgotten the true fountain of this teaching And people enslave themselves to miracles and fables. Under the given words I want the essential meaning, I look for the simplest way to sow and reap my nature. Here in the quiet of the priest’s templecourtyard, Mosses add their climbing colour to the thick bamboo; And now comes the sun, out of mist and fog, And pines that seem to be new-bathed; And everything is gone from me, speech goes, and reading, Leaving the single unison. 035 五言古詩 柳宗元 溪居 久為簪組累， 幸此南夷謫。 閑依農圃鄰， 偶似山林客。 曉耕翻露草， 夜榜響溪石， 來往不逢人， 長歌楚天碧。 Five-character-ancient-verse Liu Zongyuan DWELLING BY A STREAM I had so long been troubled by official hat and robe That I am glad to be an exile here in this wild southland. I am a neighbour now of planters and reapers. I am a guest of the mountains and woods. I plough in the morning, turning dewy grasses, And at evening tie my fisher-boat, breaking the quiet stream. Back and forth I go, scarcely meeting anyone, And sing a long poem and gaze at the blue sky.
036 樂府 王昌齡 塞上曲 蟬鳴空桑林， 八月蕭關道； 出塞復入塞， 處處黃蘆草。 從來幽并客， 皆向沙場老； 莫學游俠兒， 矜夸紫騮好。 又作共塵沙 Folk-song-styled-verse Wang Changling AT A BORDER-FORTRESS Cicadas complain of thin mulberry-trees In the Eighth-month chill at the frontier pass. Through the gate and back again, all along the road, There is nothing anywhere but yellow reeds and grasses And the bones of soldiers from You and from Bing Who have buried their lives in the dusty sand. ...Let never a cavalier stir you to envy With boasts of his horse and his horsemanship 037 樂府 王昌齡 塞下曲 飲馬渡秋水， 水寒風似刀。 平沙日未沒， 黯黯見臨洮。 昔日長城戰， 咸言意氣高； 黃塵足今古， 白骨亂蓬蒿。 Folk-song-styled-verse Wang Changling UNDER A BORDER-FORTRESS Drink, my horse, while we cross the autumn water!- The stream is cold and the wind like a sword, As we watch against the sunset on the sandy plain, Far, far away, shadowy Lingtao. Old battles, waged by those long walls, Once were proud on all men’s tongues. But antiquity now is a yellow dust, Confusing in the grasses its ruins and white bones. 038 樂府 李白 關山月 明月出天山， 蒼茫云海間； 長風幾萬里， 吹度玉門關。 漢下白登道， 胡窺青海灣。 由來征戰地， 不見有人還。 戍客望邊色， 思歸多苦顏； 高樓當此夜， 嘆息未應閑。 Folk-song-styled-verse Li Bai THE MOON AT THE FORTIFIED PASS The bright moon lifts from the Mountain of Heaven In an infinite haze of cloud and sea, And the wind, that has come a thousand miles, Beats at the Jade Pass battlements.... China marches its men down Baideng Road While Tartar troops peer across blue waters of the bay.... And since not one battle famous in history Sent all its fighters back again, The soldiers turn round, looking toward the border, And think of home, with wistful eyes, And of those tonight in the upper chambers Who toss and sigh and cannot rest. 039 樂府 李白 子夜四時歌 春歌 秦地羅敷女， 采桑綠水邊。 素手青條上， 紅妝白日鮮。 蠶饑妾欲去， 五馬莫留連。 Folk-song-styled-verse Li Bai BALLADS OF FOUR SEASONS: SPRING The lovely Lo Fo of the western land Plucks mulberry leaves by the waterside. Across the green boughs stretches out her white hand; In golden sunshine her rosy robe is dyed. "my silkworms are hungry, I cannot stay. Tarry not with your five-horse cab, I pray." 040 樂府 李白 子夜四時歌 夏歌 鏡湖三百里， 菡萏發荷花。 五月西施采， 人看隘若耶。 回舟不待月， 歸去越王家。 Folk-song-styled-verse Li Bai BALLADS OF FOUR SEASONS: SUMMER On Mirror Lake outspread for miles and miles, The lotus lilies in full blossom teem. In fifth moon Xi Shi gathers them with smiles, Watchers o’erwhelm the bank of Yuoye Stream. Her boat turns back without waiting moonrise To yoyal house amid amorous sighs. 041 樂府 李白 子夜四時歌 秋歌 長安一片月， 萬戶搗衣聲； 秋風吹不盡， 總是玉關情。 何日平胡虜？ 良人罷遠征。 Folk-song-styled-verse Li Bai A SONG OF AN AUTUMN MIDNIGHT A slip of the moon hangs over the capital; Ten thousand washing-mallets are pounding; And the autumn wind is blowing my heart For ever and ever toward the Jade Pass.... Oh, when will the Tartar troops be conquered, And my husband come back from the long campaign! 042 樂府 李白 子夜四時歌 冬歌 明朝驛使發， 一夜絮征袍。 素手抽針冷， 那堪把剪刀。 裁縫寄遠道， 幾日到臨洮。 Folk-song-styled-verse Li Bai BALLADS OF FOUR SEASONS: WINTER The courier will depart next day, she’s told. She sews a warrior’s gown all night. Her fingers feel the needle cold. How can she hold the scissors tight? The work is done, she sends it far away. When will it reach the town where warriors stay? 043 樂府 李白 長干行 妾發初覆額， 折花門前劇； 郎騎竹馬來， 繞床弄青梅。 同居長干里， 兩小無嫌猜。 十四為君婦， 羞顏未嘗開； 低頭向暗壁， 千喚不一回， 十五始展眉， 愿同塵與灰； 常存抱柱信， 豈上望夫臺？ 十六君遠行， 瞿塘滟滪堆； 五月不可觸， 猿鳴天上哀。 門前遲行跡， 一一生綠苔； 苔深不能掃， 落葉秋風早。 八月蝴蝶來， 雙飛西園草。 感此傷妾心， 坐愁紅顏老。 早晚下三巴， 預將書報家； 相迎不道遠， 直至長風沙。 又作聲 又作黃 Folk-song-styled-verse Li Bai A SONG OF CHANGGAN My hair had hardly covered my forehead. I was picking flowers, paying by my door, When you, my lover, on a bamboo horse, Came trotting in circles and throwing green plums. We lived near together on a lane in Ch’ang-kan, Both of us young and happy-hearted. ...At fourteen I became your wife, So bashful that I dared not smile, And I lowered my head toward a dark corner And would not turn to your thousand calls; But at fifteen I straightened my brows and laughed, Learning that no dust could ever seal our love, That even unto death I would await you by my post And would never lose heart in the tower of silent watching. ...Then when I was sixteen, you left on a long journey Through the Gorges of Ch’u-t’ang, of rock and whirling water. And then came the Fifth-month, more than I could bear, And I tried to hear the monkeys in your lofty far-off sky. Your footprints by our door, where I had watched you go, Were hidden, every one of them, under green moss, Hidden under moss too deep to sweep away. And the first autumn wind added fallen leaves. And now, in the Eighth-month, yellowing butterflies Hover, two by two, in our west-garden grasses And, because of all this, my heart is breaking And I fear for my bright cheeks, lest they fade. ...Oh, at last, when you return through the three Pa districts, Send me a message home ahead! And I will come and meet you and will never mind the distance, All the way to Chang-feng Sha. 044 樂府 孟郊 烈女操 梧桐相待老， 鴛鴦會雙死； 貞婦貴殉夫， 舍生亦如此。 波瀾誓不起， 妾心井中水。 Folk-song-styled-verse Meng Jiao A SONG OF A PURE-HEARTED GIRL Lakka-trees ripen two by two And mandarin-ducks die side by side. If a true-hearted girl will love only her husband, In a life as faithfully lived as theirs, What troubling wave can arrive to vex A spirit like water in a timeless well? 045 樂府 孟郊 游子吟 慈母手中線， 游子身上衣； 臨行密密縫， 意恐遲遲歸。 誰言寸草心， 報得三春輝？ Folk-song-styled-verse Meng Jiao A TRAVELLER’S SONG The thread in the hands of a fond-hearted mother Makes clothes for the body of her wayward boy; Carefully she sews and thoroughly she mends, Dreading the delays that will keep him late from home. But how much love has the inch-long grass For three spring months of the light of the sun?
046 七言古詩 陳子昂 登幽州臺歌 前不見古人， 后不見來者； 念天地之悠悠， 獨愴然而涕下。 Seven-character-ancient-verse Chen Ziang ON A GATE-TOWER AT YUZHOU Where, before me, are the ages that have gone? And where, behind me, are the coming generations? I think of heaven and earth, without limit, without end, And I am all alone and my tears fall down. 047 七言古詩 李頎 古意 男兒事長征， 少小幽燕客， 賭勝馬蹄下， 由來輕七尺； 殺人莫敢前， 須如蝟毛磔。 黃云隴底白雪飛， 未得報恩不能歸。 遼東小婦年十五，慣彈琵琶解歌舞， 今為羌笛出塞聲，使我三軍淚如雨。 Seven-character-ancient-verse Li Qi AN OLD AIR There once was a man, sent on military missions, A wanderer, from youth, on the You and Yan frontiers. Under the horses’ hoofs he would meet his foes And, recklessly risking his seven-foot body, Would slay whoever dared confront Those moustaches that bristled like porcupinequills. ...There were dark clouds below the hills, there were white clouds above them, But before a man has served full time, how can he go back? In eastern Liao a girl was waiting, a girl of fifteen years, Deft with a guitar, expert in dance and song. ...She seems to be fluting, even now, a reed-song of home, Filling every soldier’s eyes with homesick tears. 048 七言古詩 李頎 送陳章甫 四月南風大麥黃， 棗花未落桐葉長。 青山朝別暮還見， 嘶馬出門思故鄉。 陳侯立身何坦蕩？ 虬須虎眉仍大顙。 腹中貯書一萬卷， 不肯低頭在草莽。 東門酤酒飲我曹， 心輕萬事皆鴻毛， 醉臥不知白日暮， 有時空望孤云高。 長河浪頭連天黑， 津口停舟渡不得； 鄭國游人未及家， 洛陽行子空嘆息。 聞道故林相識多， 罷官昨日今如何。 Seven-character-ancient-verse Li Qi A FAREWELL TO MY FRIEND CHEN ZHANGFU In the Fourth-month the south wind blows plains of yellow barley, Date-flowers have not faded yet and lakka-leaves are long. The green peak that we left at dawn we still can see at evening, While our horses whinny on the road, eager to turn homeward. ...Chen, my friend, you have always been a great and good man, With your dragon’s moustache, tiger’s eyebrows and your massive forehead. In your bosom you have shelved away ten thousand volumes. You have held your head high, never bowed it in the dust. ...After buying us wine and pledging us, here at the eastern gate, And taking things as lightly as a wildgoose feather, Flat you lie, tipsy, forgetting the white sun; But now and then you open your eyes and gaze at a high lone cloud. ...The tide-head of the lone river joins the darkening sky. The ferryman beaches his boat. It has grown too late to sail. And people on their way from Cheng cannot go home, And people from Loyang sigh with disappointment. ...I have heard about the many friends around your wood land dwelling. Yesterday you were dismissed. Are they your friends today? 049 七言古詩 李頎 琴歌 主人有酒歡今夕， 請奏鳴琴廣陵客。 月照城頭烏半飛， 霜凄萬樹風入衣； 銅爐華燭燭增輝， 初彈淥水后楚妃。 一聲已動物皆靜， 四座無言星欲稀。 清淮奉使千余里， 敢告云山從此始。 Seven-character-ancient-verse Li Qi A LUTE SONG Our host, providing abundant wine to make the night mellow, Asks his guest from Yangzhou to play for us on the lute. Toward the moon that whitens the city-wall, black crows are flying, Frost is on ten thousand trees, and the wind blows through our clothes; But a copper stove has added its light to that of flowery candles, And the lute plays The Green Water, and then The Queen of Chu. Once it has begun to play, there is no other sound: A spell is on the banquet, while the stars grow thin.... But three hundred miles from here, in Huai, official duties await him, And so it’s farewell, and the road again, under cloudy mountains. 050 七言古詩 李頎 聽董大彈胡笳聲兼寄語弄房給事 蔡女昔造胡笳聲， 一彈一十有八拍。 胡人落淚沾邊草， 漢使斷腸對歸客。 古戍蒼蒼烽火寒， 大荒沈沈飛雪白。 先拂聲弦后角羽， 四郊秋葉驚摵摵。 董夫子，通神明， 深山竊聽來妖精。 言遲更速皆應手， 將往復旋如有情。 空山百鳥散還合， 萬里浮云陰且晴。 嘶酸雛雁失群夜， 斷絕胡兒戀母聲。 川為靜其波， 鳥亦罷其鳴； 烏孫部落家鄉遠， 邏娑沙塵哀怨生。 幽音變調忽飄灑， 長風吹林雨墮瓦； 迸泉颯颯飛木末， 野鹿呦呦走堂下。 長安城連東掖垣， 鳳凰池對青瑣門， 高才脫略名與利， 日夕望君抱琴至。 Seven-character-ancient-verse Li Qi ON HEARING DONG PLAY THE FLAGEOLET A POEM TO PALACE-ATTENDANT FANG When this melody for the flageolet was made by Lady Cai, When long ago one by one she sang its eighteen stanzas, Even the Tartars were shedding tears into the border grasses, And the envoy of China was heart-broken, turning back home with his escort. ...Cold fires now of old battles are grey on ancient forts, And the wilderness is shadowed with white new-flying snow. ...When the player first brushes the Shang string and the Jue and then the Yu, Autumn-leaves in all four quarters are shaken with a murmur. Dong, the master, Must have been taught in heaven. Demons come from the deep pine-wood and stealthily listen To music slow, then quick, following his hand, Now far away, now near again, according to his heart. A hundred birds from an empty mountain scatter and return; Three thousand miles of floating clouds darken and lighten; A wildgoose fledgling, left behind, cries for its flock, And a Tartar child for the mother he loves. Then river waves are calmed And birds are mute that were singing, And Wuzu tribes are homesick for their distant land, And out of the dust of Siberian steppes rises a plaintive sorrow. ...Suddenly the low sound leaps to a freer tune, Like a long wind swaying a forest, a downpour breaking tiles, A cascade through the air, flying over tree-tops. ...A wild deer calls to his fellows. He is running among the mansions In the corner of the capital by the Eastern Palace wall.... Phoenix Lake lies opposite the Gate of Green Jade; But how can fame and profit concern a man of genius? Day and night I long for him to bring his lute again. 051 七言古詩 李頎 聽安萬善吹觱篥歌 南山截竹為觱篥， 此樂本自龜茲出。 流傳漢地曲轉奇， 涼州胡人為我吹； 傍鄰聞者多嘆息， 遠客思鄉皆淚垂。 世人解聽不解賞， 長飆風中自來往。 枯桑老柏寒颼飗， 九雛鳴鳳亂啾啾。 龍吟虎嘯一時發， 萬籟百泉相與秋。 忽然更作漁陽摻， 黃云蕭條白日暗。 變調如聞楊柳春， 上林繁花照眼新。 歲夜高堂列明燭， 美酒一杯聲一曲。 Seven-character-ancient-verse Li Qi ON HEARING AN WANSHAN PLAY THE REED-PIPE Bamboo from the southern hills was used to make this pipe. And its music, that was introduced from Persia first of all, Has taken on new magic through later use in China. And now the Tartar from Liangzhou, blowing it for me, Drawing a sigh from whosoever hears it, Is bringing to a wanderer’s eyes homesick tears.... Many like to listen; but few understand. To and fro at will there’s a long wind flying, Dry mulberry-trees, old cypresses, trembling in its chill. There are nine baby phoenixes, outcrying one another; A dragon and a tiger spring up at the same moment; Then in a hundred waterfalls ten thousand songs of autumn Are suddenly changing to The Yuyang Lament; And when yellow clouds grow thin and the white sun darkens, They are changing still again to Spring in the Willow Trees. Like Imperial Garden flowers, brightening the eye with beauty, Are the high-hall candles we have lighted this cold night, And with every cup of wine goes another round of music. 052 七言古詩 孟浩然 夜歸鹿門山歌 山寺鐘鳴晝已昏， 漁梁渡頭爭渡喧； 人隨沙路向江村， 余亦乘舟歸鹿門。 鹿門月照開煙樹， 忽到龐公棲隱處； 巖扉松徑長寂寥， 惟有幽人自來去。 Seven-character-ancient-verse Meng Haoran RETURNING AT NIGHT TO LUMEN MOUNTAIN A bell in the mountain-temple sounds the coming of night. I hear people at the fishing-town stumble aboard the ferry, While others follow the sand-bank to their homes along the river. ...I also take a boat and am bound for Lumen Mountain -- And soon the Lumen moonlight is piercing misty trees. I have come, before I know it, upon an ancient hermitage, The thatch door, the piney path, the solitude, the quiet, Where a hermit lives and moves, never needing a companion. 053 七言古詩 李白 廬山謠寄盧侍御虛舟 我本楚狂人， 鳳歌笑孔丘。 手持綠玉杖， 朝別黃鶴樓； 五岳尋仙不辭遠， 一生好入名山游。 廬山秀出南斗傍， 屏風九疊云錦張； 影落明湖青黛光， 金闕前開二峰長。 銀河倒掛三石梁， 香爐瀑布遙相望。 回崖沓障淩蒼蒼， 翠影紅霞映朝日， 鳥飛不到吳天長。 登高壯觀天地間， 大江茫茫去不黃。 黃云萬里動風色， 白波九道流雪山。 好為廬山謠， 興因廬山發。 閑窺石鏡清我心， 謝公行處蒼苔沒。 早服還丹無世情， 琴心三疊道初成； 遙見仙人彩云里， 手把芙蓉朝玉京。 先期汗漫九垓上， 愿接盧敖游太清。 又作還 Seven-character-ancient-verse Li Bai A SONG OF LU MOUNTAIN TO CENSOR LU XUZHOU I am the madman of the Chu country Who sang a mad song disputing Confucius. ...Holding in my hand a staff of green jade, I have crossed, since morning at the Yellow Crane Terrace, All five Holy Mountains, without a thought of distance, According to the one constant habit of my life. Lu Mountain stands beside the Southern Dipper In clouds reaching silken like a nine-panelled screen, With its shadows in a crystal lake deepening the green water. The Golden Gate opens into two mountain-ranges. A silver stream is hanging down to three stone bridges Within sight of the mighty Tripod Falls. Ledges of cliff and winding trails lead to blue sky And a flush of cloud in the morning sun, Whence no flight of birds could be blown into Wu. ...I climb to the top. I survey the whole world. I see the long river that runs beyond return, Yellow clouds that winds have driven hundreds of miles And a snow-peak whitely circled by the swirl of a ninefold stream. And so I am singing a song of Lu Mountain, A song that is born of the breath of Lu Mountain. ...Where the Stone Mirror makes the heart’s purity purer And green moss has buried the footsteps of Xie, I have eaten the immortal pellet and, rid of the world’s troubles, Before the lute’s third playing have achieved my element. Far away I watch the angels riding coloured clouds Toward heaven’s Jade City, with hibiscus in their hands. And so, when I have traversed the nine sections of the world, I will follow Saint Luao up the Great Purity. 054 七言古詩 李白 夢游天姥吟留別 海客談瀛洲， 煙濤微茫信難求。 越人語天姥， 云霓明滅或可睹。 天姥連天向天橫， 勢拔五岳掩赤城； 天臺四萬八千丈， 對此欲倒東南傾。 我欲因之夢吳越， 一夜飛渡鏡湖月。 湖月照我影， 送我至剡溪； 謝公宿處今尚在， 淥水蕩漾清猿啼。 腳著謝公屐， 身登青云梯。 半壁見海日， 空中聞天雞。 千巖萬壑路不定， 迷花倚石忽已暝。 熊咆龍吟殷巖泉， 栗深林兮驚層巔。 云青青兮欲雨， 水澹澹兮生煙。 列缺霹靂， 邱巒崩摧， 洞天石扇， 訇然中開； 青冥浩蕩不見底， 日月照耀金銀臺。 霓為衣兮風為馬， 云之君兮紛紛而來下； 虎鼓瑟兮鸞回車。 仙之人兮列如麻。 忽魂悸以魄動， 怳驚起而長嗟。 惟覺時之枕席， 失向來之煙霞。 世間行樂亦如此， 古來萬事東流水。 別君去兮何時還？ 且放白鹿青崖間。 須行即騎訪名山， 安能摧眉折腰事權貴， 使我不得開心顏？ Seven-character-ancient-verse Li Bai TIANMU MOUNTAIN ASCENDED IN A DREAM A seafaring visitor will talk about Japan, Which waters and mists conceal beyond approach; But Yueh people talk about Heavenly Mother Mountain, Still seen through its varying deeps of cloud. In a straight line to heaven, its summit enters heaven, Tops the five Holy Peaks, and casts a shadow through China With the hundred-mile length of the Heavenly Terrace Range, Which, just at this point, begins turning southeast. ...My heart and my dreams are in Wu and Yueh And they cross Mirror Lake all night in the moon. And the moon lights my shadow And me to Yan River -- With the hermitage of Xie still there And the monkeys calling clearly over ripples of green water. I wear his pegged boots Up a ladder of blue cloud, Sunny ocean half-way, Holy cock-crow in space, Myriad peaks and more valleys and nowhere a road. Flowers lure me, rocks ease me. Day suddenly ends. Bears, dragons, tempestuous on mountain and river, Startle the forest and make the heights tremble. Clouds darken with darkness of rain, Streams pale with pallor of mist. The Gods of Thunder and Lightning Shatter the whole range. The stone gate breaks asunder Venting in the pit of heaven, An impenetrable shadow. ...But now the sun and moon illumine a gold and silver terrace, And, clad in rainbow garments, riding on the wind, Come the queens of all the clouds, descending one by one, With tigers for their lute-players and phoenixes for dancers. Row upon row, like fields of hemp, range the fairy figures. I move, my soul goes flying, I wake with a long sigh, My pillow and my matting Are the lost clouds I was in. ...And this is the way it always is with human joy: Ten thousand things run for ever like water toward the east. And so I take my leave of you, not knowing for how long. ...But let me, on my green slope, raise a white deer And ride to you, great mountain, when I have need of you. Oh, how can I gravely bow and scrape to men of high rank and men of high office Who never will suffer being shown an honest-hearted face! 055 七言古詩 李白 金陵酒肆留別 風吹柳花滿店香， 吳姬壓酒喚客嘗； 金陵子弟來相送， 欲行不行各盡觴。 請君試問東流水， 別意與之誰短長？ Seven-character-ancient-verse Li Bai PARTING AT A WINE-SHOP IN NANJING A wind, bringing willow-cotton, sweetens the shop, And a girl from Wu, pouring wine, urges me to share it With my comrades of the city who are here to see me off; And as each of them drains his cup, I say to him in parting, Oh, go and ask this river running to the east If it can travel farther than a friend’s love! 056 七言古詩 李白 宣州謝朓樓餞別校書叔云 棄我去者， 昨日之日不可留； 亂我心者， 今日之日多煩憂。 長風萬里送秋雁， 對此可以酣高樓。 蓬萊文章建安骨， 中間小謝又清發， 俱懷逸興壯思飛， 欲上青天覽明月。 抽刀斷水水更流， 舉杯銷愁愁更愁。 人生在世不稱意， 明朝散發弄扁舟。 又作復 Seven-character-ancient-verse Li Bai A FAREWELL TO SECRETARY SHUYUN AT THE XIETIAO VILLA IN XUANZHOU Since yesterday had to throw me and bolt, Today has hurt my heart even more. The autumn wildgeese have a long wind for escort As I face them from this villa, drinking my wine. The bones of great writers are your brushes, in the School of Heaven, And I am a Lesser Xie growing up by your side. We both are exalted to distant thought, Aspiring to the sky and the bright moon. But since water still flows, though we cut it with our swords, And sorrows return, though we drown them with wine, Since the world can in no way answer our craving, I will loosen my hair tomorrow and take to a fishingboat. 057 七言古詩 岑參 走馬川行奉送封大夫出師西征 君不見走馬川行雪海邊， 平沙莽莽黃入天。 輪臺九月風夜吼， 一川碎石大如斗， 隨風滿地石亂走。 匈奴草黃馬正肥， 金山西見煙塵飛， 漢家大將西出師。 將軍金甲夜不脫， 半夜軍行戈相撥， 風頭如刀面如割。 馬毛帶雪汗氣蒸， 五花連錢旋作冰， 幕中草檄硯水凝。 虜騎聞之應膽懾， 料知短兵不敢接， 車師西門佇獻捷。 Seven-character-ancient-verse Cen Can A SONG OF RUNNING-HORSE RIVER IN FAREWELL TO GENERAL FENG OF THE WESTERN EXPEDITION Look how swift to the snowy sea races Running-Horse River! -- And sand, up from the desert, flies yellow into heaven. This Ninth-month night is blowing cold at Wheel Tower, And valleys, like peck measures, fill with the broken boulders That downward, headlong, follow the wind. ...In spite of grey grasses, Tartar horses are plump; West of the Hill of Gold, smoke and dust gather. O General of the Chinese troops, start your campaign! Keep your iron armour on all night long, Send your soldiers forward with a clattering of weapons! ...While the sharp wind’s point cuts the face like a knife, And snowy sweat steams on the horses’ backs, Freezing a pattern of five-flower coins, Your challenge from camp, from an inkstand of ice, Has chilled the barbarian chieftain’s heart. You will have no more need of an actual battle! -- We await the news of victory, here at the western pass! 058 七言古詩 岑參 輪臺歌奉送封大夫出師西征 輪臺城頭夜吹角， 輪臺城北旄頭落。 羽書昨夜過渠黎， 單于已在金山西。 戍樓西望煙塵黑， 漢兵屯在輪臺北。 上將擁旄西出征， 平明吹笛大軍行。 四邊伐鼓雪海涌， 三軍大呼陰山動。 虜塞兵氣連云屯， 戰場白骨纏草根。 劍河風急雪片闊， 沙口石凍馬蹄脫。 亞相勤王甘苦辛， 誓將報主靜邊塵。 古來青史誰不見？ 今見功名勝古人。 Seven-character-ancient-verse Cen Can A SONG OF WHEEL TOWER IN FAREWELL TO GENERAL FENG OF THE WESTERN EXPEDITION On Wheel Tower parapets night-bugles are blowing, Though the flag at the northern end hangs limp. Scouts, in the darkness, are passing Quli, Where, west of the Hill of Gold, the Tartar chieftain has halted We can see, from the look-out, the dust and black smoke Where Chinese troops are camping, north of Wheel Tower. ...Our flags now beckon the General farther west- With bugles in the dawn he rouses his Grand Army; Drums like a tempest pound on four sides And the Yin Mountains shake with the shouts of ten thousand; Clouds and the war-wind whirl up in a point Over fields where grass-roots will tighten around white bones; In the Dagger River mist, through a biting wind, Horseshoes, at the Sand Mouth line, break on icy boulders. ...Our General endures every pain, every hardship, Commanded to settle the dust along the border. We have read, in the Green Books, tales of old days- But here we behold a living man, mightier than the dead. 059 七言古詩 岑參 白雪歌送武判官歸京 北風卷地白草折， 胡天八月即飛雪； 忽如一夜春風來， 千樹萬樹梨花開。 散入珠簾濕羅幕， 狐裘不暖錦衾薄。 將軍角弓不得控， 都護鐵衣冷猶著。 瀚海闌干百丈冰， 愁云黲淡萬里凝。 中軍置酒飲歸客， 胡琴琵琶與羌笛。 紛紛暮雪下轅門， 風掣紅旗凍不翻。 輪臺東門送君去， 去時雪滿天山路； 山回路轉不見君， 雪上空留馬行處。 Seven-character-ancient-verse Cen Can A SONG OF WHITE SNOW IN FAREWELL TO FIELD-CLERK WU GOING HOME The north wind rolls the white grasses and breaks them; And the Eighth-month snow across the Tartar sky Is like a spring gale, come up in the night, Blowing open the petals of ten thousand peartrees. It enters the pearl blinds, it wets the silk curtains; A fur coat feels cold, a cotton mat flimsy; Bows become rigid, can hardly be drawn And the metal of armour congeals on the men; The sand-sea deepens with fathomless ice, And darkness masses its endless clouds; But we drink to our guest bound home from camp, And play him barbarian lutes, guitars, harps; Till at dusk, when the drifts are crushing our tents And our frozen red flags cannot flutter in the wind, We watch him through Wheel-Tower Gate going eastward. Into the snow-mounds of Heaven-Peak Road.... And then he disappears at the turn of the pass, Leaving behind him only hoof-prints. 060 七言古詩 杜甫 韋諷錄事宅觀曹將軍畫馬圖 國初以來畫鞍馬， 神妙獨數江都王。 將軍得名三十載， 人間又見真乘黃。 曾貌先帝照夜白， 龍池十日飛霹靂， 內府殷紅瑪瑙盤， 婕妤傳詔才人索。 盤賜將軍拜舞歸， 輕紈細綺相追飛； 貴戚權門得筆跡， 始覺屏障生光輝。 昔日太宗拳毛騧， 近時郭家獅子花。 今之新圖有二馬， 復令識者久嘆嗟， 此皆騎戰一敵萬， 縞素漠漠開風沙。 其余七匹亦殊絕， 迥若寒空雜煙雪； 霜蹄蹴踏長楸間， 馬官廝養森成列。 可憐九馬爭神駿， 顧視清高氣深穩。 借問苦心愛者誰？ 后有韋諷前支盾。 憶昔巡幸新豐宮， 翠花拂天來向東； 騰驤磊落三萬匹， 皆與此圖筋骨同。 自從獻寶朝河宗， 無復射蛟江水中。 君不見， 金粟堆前松柏里， 龍媒去盡鳥呼風。 又作遁 Seven-character-ancient-verse Du Fu A DRAWING OF A HORSE BY GENERAL CAO AT SECRETARY WEI FENG’S HOUSE Throughout this dynasty no one had painted horses Like the master-spirit, Prince Jiangdu -- And then to General Cao through his thirty years of fame The world’s gaze turned, for royal steeds. He painted the late Emperor’s luminous white horse. For ten days the thunder flew over Dragon Lake, And a pink-agate plate was sent him from the palace- The talk of the court-ladies, the marvel of all eyes. The General danced, receiving it in his honoured home After this rare gift, followed rapidly fine silks From many of the nobles, requesting that his art Lend a new lustre to their screens. ...First came the curly-maned horse of Emperor Taizong, Then, for the Guos, a lion-spotted horse.... But now in this painting I see two horses, A sobering sight for whosoever knew them. They are war- horses. Either could face ten thousand. They make the white silk stretch away into a vast desert. And the seven others with them are almost as noble Mist and snow are moving across a cold sky, And hoofs are cleaving snow-drifts under great trees- With here a group of officers and there a group of servants. See how these nine horses all vie with one another- The high clear glance, the deep firm breath. ...Who understands distinction? Who really cares for art? You, Wei Feng, have followed Cao; Zhidun preceded him. ...I remember when the late Emperor came toward his Summer Palace, The procession, in green-feathered rows, swept from the eastern sky -- Thirty thousand horses, prancing, galloping, Fashioned, every one of them, like the horses in this picture.... But now the Imperial Ghost receives secret jade from the River God, For the Emperor hunts crocodiles no longer by the streams. Where you see his Great Gold Tomb, you may hear among the pines A bird grieving in the wind that the Emperor’s horses are gone. 061 七言古詩 杜甫 丹青引贈曹霸將軍 將軍魏武之子孫， 于今為庶為青門； 英雄割據雖已矣！ 文采風流今尚存。 學書初學衛夫人， 但恨無過王右軍。 丹青不知老將至， 富貴于我如浮云。 開元之中常引見， 承恩數上南熏殿， 凌煙功臣少顏色， 將軍下筆開生面。 良相頭上進賢冠， 猛將腰間大羽箭。 褒公鄂公毛發動， 英姿颯爽猶酣戰。 先帝天馬玉花驄， 畫工如山貌不同。 是日牽來赤墀下， 迥立閶闔生長風。 詔謂將軍拂絹素， 意匠慘淡經營中； 斯須九重真龍出， 一洗萬古凡馬空。 玉花卻在御榻上， 榻上庭前屹相向； 至尊含笑催賜金， 圉人太仆皆惆悵， 弟子韓干早入室， 亦能畫馬窮殊相； 干惟畫肉不畫骨， 忍使驊騮氣凋喪。 將軍畫善蓋有神， 偶逢佳士亦寫真； 即今漂泊干戈際， 屢貌尋常行路人。 涂窮反遭俗眼白， 世上未有如公貧； 但看古來盛名下， 終日坎壈纏其身。 又作途 Seven-character-ancient-verse Du Fu A SONG OF A PAINTING TO GENERAL CAO O General, descended from Wei’s Emperor Wu, You are nobler now than when a noble.... Conquerors and their velour perish, But masters of beauty live forever. ...With your brush-work learned from Lady Wei And second only to Wang Xizhi’s, Faithful to your art, you know no age, Letting wealth and fame drift by like clouds. ...In the years of Kaiyuan you were much with the Emperor, Accompanied him often to the Court of the South Wind. When the spirit left great statesmen, on walls of the Hall of Fame The point of your brush preserved their living faces. You crowned all the premiers with coronets of office; You fitted all commanders with arrows at their girdles; You made the founders of this dynasty, with every hair alive, Seem to be just back from the fierceness of a battle. ...The late Emperor had a horse, known as Jade Flower, Whom artists had copied in various poses. They led him one day to the red marble stairs With his eyes toward the palace in the deepening air. Then, General, commanded to proceed with your work, You centred all your being on a piece of silk. And later, when your dragon-horse, born of the sky, Had banished earthly horses for ten thousand generations, There was one Jade Flower standing on the dais And another by the steps, and they marvelled at each other.... The Emperor rewarded you with smiles and with gifts, While officers and men of the stud hung about and stared. ...Han Gan, your follower, has likewise grown proficient At representing horses in all their attitudes; But picturing the flesh, he fails to draw the bone- So that even the finest are deprived of their spirit. You, beyond the mere skill, used your art divinely- And expressed, not only horses, but the life of a good man.... Yet here you are, wandering in a world of disorder And sketching from time to time some petty passerby People note your case with the whites of their eyes. There’s nobody purer, there’s nobody poorer. ...Read in the records, from earliest times, How hard it is to be a great artist. 062 七言古詩 杜甫 寄韓諫議 今我不樂思岳陽， 身欲奮飛病在床。 美人娟娟隔秋水， 濯足洞庭望八荒。 鴻飛冥冥日月白， 青楓葉赤天雨霜。 玉京群帝集北斗， 或騎麒麟翳鳳凰。 芙蓉旌旗煙霧落， 影動倒景搖瀟湘。 星宮之君醉瓊漿， 羽人稀少不在旁。 似聞昨者赤松子， 恐是漢代韓張良； 昔隨劉氏定長安， 帷幄未改神慘傷。 國家成敗吾豈敢？ 色難腥腐餐楓香。 周南留滯古所惜， 南極老人應壽昌。 美人胡為隔秋水？ 焉得置之貢玉堂。 Seven-character-ancient-verse Du Fu A LETTER TO CENSOR HAN I am sad. My thoughts are in Youzhou. I would hurry there-but I am sick in bed. ...Beauty would be facing me across the autumn waters. Oh, to wash my feet in Lake Dongting and see at its eight corners Wildgeese flying high, sun and moon both white, Green maples changing to red in the frosty sky, Angels bound for the Capital of Heaven, near the North Star, Riding, some of them phrenixes, and others unicorns, With banners of hibiscus and with melodies of mist, Their shadows dancing upside-down in the southern rivers, Till the Queen of the Stars, drowsy with her nectar, Would forget the winged men on either side of her! ...From the Wizard of the Red Pine this word has come for me: That after his earlier follower he has now a new disciple Who, formerly at the capital as Emperor Liu’s adviser, In spite of great successes, never could be happy. ...What are a country’s rise and fall? Can flesh-pots be as fragrant as mountain fruit?.... I grieve that he is lost far away in the south. May the star of long life accord him its blessing! ...O purity, to seize you from beyond the autumn waters And to place you as an offering in the Court of Imperial Jade. 063 七言古詩 杜甫 古柏行 孔明廟前有老柏， 柯如青銅根如石； 雙皮溜雨四十圍， 黛色參天二千尺。 君臣已與時際會， 樹木猶為人愛惜。 云來氣接巫峽長， 月出寒通雪山白。 憶昨路繞錦亭東， 先主武侯同閟宮。 崔嵬枝干郊原古， 窈窕丹青戶牖空。 落落盤踞雖得地， 冥冥孤高多烈風。 扶持自是神明力， 正直元因造化功。 大廈如傾要梁棟， 萬牛回首丘山重。 不露文章世已驚， 未辭剪伐誰能送？ 苦心豈免容螻蟻？ 香葉終經宿鸞鳳。 志士幽人莫怨嗟， 古來材大難為用。 又作霜 又作原 Seven-character-ancient-verse Du Fu A SONG OF AN OLD CYPRESS Beside the Temple of the Great Premier stands an ancient cypress With a trunk of green bronze and a root of stone. The girth of its white bark would be the reach of forty men And its tip of kingfish-blue is two thousand feet in heaven. Dating from the days of a great ruler’s great statesman, Their very tree is loved now and honoured by the people. Clouds come to it from far away, from the Wu cliffs, And the cold moon glistens on its peak of snow. ...East of the Silk Pavilion yesterday I found The ancient ruler and wise statesman both worshipped in one temple, Whose tree, with curious branches, ages the whole landscape In spite of the fresh colours of the windows and the doors. And so firm is the deep root, so established underground, That its lone lofty boughs can dare the weight of winds, Its only protection the Heavenly Power, Its only endurance the art of its Creator. Though oxen sway ten thousand heads, they cannot move a mountain. ...When beams are required to restore a great house, Though a tree writes no memorial, yet people understand That not unless they fell it can use be made of it.... Its bitter heart may be tenanted now by black and white ants, But its odorous leaves were once the nest of phoenixes and pheasants. ...Let wise and hopeful men harbour no complaint. The greater the timber, the tougher it is to use. 064 七言古詩 杜甫 觀公孫大娘弟子舞劍器行并序 大歷二年十月十九日夔府別駕元持宅見臨潁李十二 娘舞劍器，壯其蔚跂。問其所師，曰︰余公孫大娘 弟子也。開元三載，余尚童稚，記于郾城觀公孫氏 舞劍器渾脫。瀏漓頓挫，獨出冠時。自高頭宜春梨 園二伎坊內人，洎外供奉，曉是舞者，圣文神武皇 帝初，公孫一人而已。玉貌錦衣，況余白首！今茲 弟子亦匪盛顏。既辨其由來，知波瀾莫二。撫事慷 慨，聊為劍器行。昔者吳人張旭善草書書帖，數嘗 于鄴縣見公孫大娘舞西河劍器，自此草書長進，豪 蕩感激。即公孫可知矣！ 昔有佳人公孫氏， 一舞劍器動四方。 觀者如山色沮喪， 天地為之久低昂。 霍如羿射九日落， 矯如群帝驂龍翔， 來如雷霆收震怒， 罷如江海凝清光。 絳唇珠袖兩寂寞， 晚有弟子傳芬芳。 臨潁美人在白帝， 妙舞此曲神揚揚。 與余問答既有以， 感時撫事增惋傷。 先帝侍女八千人， 公孫劍器初第一。 五十年間似反掌， 風塵澒洞昏王室。 梨園子弟散如煙， 女樂余姿映寒日。 金粟堆前木已拱， 瞿塘石城草蕭瑟。 玳筵急管曲復終， 樂極哀來月東出。 老夫不知其所往？ 足繭荒山轉愁疾。 Seven-character-ancient-verse Du Fu A SONG OF DAGGER-DANCING TO A GIRL-PUPIL OF LADY GONGSUN On the 19th of the Tenth-month in the second year of Dali, I saw, in the house of the Kueifu official Yuante, a girl named Li from Lingying dancing with a dagger. I admired her skill and asked who was her teacher. She named Lady Gongsun. I remembered that in the third year of Kaiyuan at Yancheng, when I was a little boy, I saw Lady Gongsun dance. She was the only one in the Imperial Theatre who could dance with this weapon. Now she is aged and unknown, and even her pupil has passed the heyday of beauty. I wrote this poem to express my wistfulness. The work of Zhang Xu of the Wu district, that great master of grassy writing, was improved by his having been present when Lady Gongsun danced in the Yeh district. From this may be judged the art of Gongsun. There lived years ago the beautiful Gongsun, Who, dancing with her dagger, drew from all four quarters An audience like mountains lost among themselves. Heaven and earth moved back and forth, following her motions, Which were bright as when the Archer shot the nine suns down the sky And rapid as angels before the wings of dragons. She began like a thunderbolt, venting its anger, And ended like the shining calm of rivers and the sea.... But vanished are those red lips and those pearly sleeves; And none but this one pupil bears the perfume of her fame, This beauty from Lingying, at the Town of the White God, Dancing still and singing in the old blithe way. And while we reply to each other’s questions, We sigh together, saddened by changes that have come. There were eight thousand ladies in the late Emperor’s court, But none could dance the dagger-dance like Lady Gongsun. ...Fifty years have passed, like the turning of a palm; Wind and dust, filling the world, obscure the Imperial House. Instead of the Pear-Garden Players, who have blown by like a mist, There are one or two girl-musicians now-trying to charm the cold Sun. There are man-size trees by the Emperor’s Golden Tomb I seem to hear dead grasses rattling on the cliffs of Qutang. ...The song is done, the slow string and quick pipe have ceased. At the height of joy, sorrow comes with the eastern moon rising. And I, a poor old man, not knowing where to go, Must harden my feet on the lone hills, toward sickness and despair. 065 七言古詩 元結 石魚湖上醉歌并序 漫叟以公田米釀酒，因休暇，則載酒于湖上， 時取一醉；歡醉中，據湖岸，引臂向魚取酒， 使舫載之，遍飲坐者。意疑倚巴丘，酌于君山 之上，諸子環洞庭而坐，酒舫泛泛然，觸波濤 而往來者，乃作歌以長之。 石魚湖， 似洞庭， 夏水欲滿君山青。 山為樽， 水為沼， 酒徒歷歷坐洲鳥。 長風連日作大浪， 不能廢人運酒舫。 我持長瓢坐巴丘， 酌飲四座以散愁。
075 七言樂府 李頎 古從軍行 白日登山望烽火， 黃昏飲馬傍交河。 行人刁斗風沙暗， 公主琵琶幽怨多。 野云萬里無城郭， 雨雪紛紛連大漠。 胡雁哀鳴夜夜飛， 胡兒眼淚雙雙落。 聞道玉門猶被遮， 應將性命逐輕車。 年年戰骨埋荒外， 空見葡萄入漢家。 Folk-song-styled-verse Li Qi AN OLD WAR-SONG Through the bright day up the mountain, we scan the sky for a war-torch; At yellow dusk we water our horses in the boundaryriver; And when the throb of watch-drums hangs in the sandy wind, We hear the guitar of the Chinese Princess telling her endless woe.... Three thousand miles without a town, nothing but camps, Till the heavy sky joins the wide desert in snow. With their plaintive calls, barbarian wildgeese fly from night to night, And children of the Tartars have many tears to shed; But we hear that the Jade Pass is still under siege, And soon we stake our lives upon our light warchariots. Each year we bury in the desert bones unnumbered, Yet we only watch for grape-vines coming into China. 076 樂府 王維 洛陽女兒行 洛陽女兒對門居， 才可容顏十五余； 良人玉勒乘驄馬， 侍女金盤膾鯉魚。 畫閣朱樓盡相望， 紅桃綠柳垂檐向。 羅帷送上七香車， 寶扇迎歸九華帳。 狂夫富貴在青春， 意氣驕奢劇季倫。 自憐碧玉親教舞， 不惜珊瑚持與人。 春窗曙滅九微火， 九微片片飛花璅。 戲罷曾無理曲時， 妝成祇是薰香坐。 城中相識盡繁華， 日夜經過趙李家。 誰憐越女顏如玉？ 貧賤江頭自浣紗。 Folk-song-styled-verse Wang Wei A SONG OF A GIRL FROM LOYANG There’s a girl from Loyang in the door across the street, She looks fifteen, she may be a little older. ...While her master rides his rapid horse with jade bit an bridle, Her handmaid brings her cod-fish in a golden plate. On her painted pavilions, facing red towers, Cornices are pink and green with peach-bloom and with willow, Canopies of silk awn her seven-scented chair, And rare fans shade her, home to her nine-flowered curtains. Her lord, with rank and wealth and in the bud of life, Exceeds in munificence the richest men of old. He favours this girl of lowly birth, he has her taught to dance; And he gives away his coral-trees to almost anyone. The wind of dawn just stirs when his nine soft lights go out, Those nine soft lights like petals in a flying chain of flowers. Between dances she has barely time for singing over the songs; No sooner is she dressed again than incense burns before her. Those she knows in town are only the rich and the lavish, And day and night she is visiting the hosts of the gayest mansions. ...Who notices the girl from Yue with a face of white jade, Humble, poor, alone, by the river, washing silk? 077 樂府 王維 老將行 少年十五二十時， 步行奪得胡馬騎。 射殺山中白額虎， 肯數鄴下黃須兒。 一身轉戰三千里， 一劍曾當百萬師。 漢兵奮迅如霹靂， 虜騎崩騰畏蒺藜。 衛青不敗由天幸， 李廣無功緣數奇。 自從棄置便衰朽， 世事蹉跎成白首。 昔時飛箭無全目， 今日垂楊生左肘。 路旁時賣故侯瓜， 門前學種先生柳。 蒼茫古木連窮巷， 寥落寒山對虛牖。 誓令疏勒出飛泉， 不似潁川空使酒。 賀蘭山下陣如云， 羽檄交馳日夕聞。 節使三河募年少， 詔書五道出將軍。 試拂鐵衣如雪色， 聊持寶劍動星文。 愿得燕弓射大將， 恥令越甲鳴吾君。 莫嫌舊日云中守， 猶堪一戰取功勛。 Folk-song-styled-verse Wang Wei SONG OF AN OLD GENERAL When he was a youth of fifteen or twenty, He chased a wild horse, he caught him and rode him, He shot the white-browed mountain tiger, He defied the yellow-bristled Horseman of Ye. Fighting single- handed for a thousand miles, With his naked dagger he could hold a multitude. ...Granted that the troops of China were as swift as heaven’s thunder And that Tartar soldiers perished in pitfalls fanged with iron, General Wei Qing’s victory was only a thing of chance. And General Li Guang’s thwarted effort was his fate, not his fault. Since this man’s retirement he is looking old and worn: Experience of the world has hastened his white hairs. Though once his quick dart never missed the right eye of a bird, Now knotted veins and tendons make his left arm like an osier. He is sometimes at the road-side selling melons from his garden, He is sometimes planting willows round his hermitage. His lonely lane is shut away by a dense grove, His vacant window looks upon the far cold mountains But, if he prayed, the waters would come gushing for his men And never would he wanton his cause away with wine. ...War-clouds are spreading, under the Helan Range; Back and forth, day and night, go feathered messages; In the three River Provinces, the governors call young men -- And five imperial edicts have summoned the old general. So he dusts his iron coat and shines it like snow- Waves his dagger from its jade hilt in a dance of starry steel. He is ready with his strong northern bow to smite the Tartar chieftain -- That never a foreign war-dress may affront the Emperor. ...There once was an aged Prefect, forgotten and far away, Who still could manage triumph with a single stroke. 078 樂府 王維 桃源行 漁舟逐水愛山春， 兩岸桃花夾古津。 坐看紅樹不知遠， 行盡青溪不見人。 山口潛行始隈隩， 山開曠望旋平陸。 遙看一處攢云樹， 近入千家散花竹。 樵客初傳漢姓名， 居人未改秦衣服。 居人共住武陵源， 還從物外起田園。 月明松下房櫳靜， 日出云中雞犬喧。 驚聞俗客爭來集， 競引還家問都邑。 平明閭巷掃花開， 薄暮漁樵乘水入。 初因避地去人間， 及至成仙遂不還。 峽里誰知有人事， 世中遙望空云山。 不疑靈境難聞見， 塵心未盡思鄉縣。 出洞無論隔山水， 辭家終擬長游衍。 自謂經過舊不迷， 安知峰壑今來變。 當時只記入山深， 青溪幾曲到云林？ 春來遍是桃花水， 不辨仙源何處尋？ Folk-song-styled-verse Wang Wei A SONG OF PEACH-BLOSSOM RIVER A fisherman is drifting, enjoying the spring mountains, And the peach-trees on both banks lead him to an ancient source. Watching the fresh-coloured trees, he never thinks of distance Till he comes to the end of the blue stream and suddenly- strange men! It’s a cave-with a mouth so narrow that he has to crawl through; But then it opens wide again on a broad and level path -- And far beyond he faces clouds crowning a reach of trees, And thousands of houses shadowed round with flowers and bamboos.... Woodsmen tell him their names in the ancient speech of Han; And clothes of the Qin Dynasty are worn by all these people Living on the uplands, above the Wuling River, On farms and in gardens that are like a world apart, Their dwellings at peace under pines in the clear moon, Until sunrise fills the low sky with crowing and barking. ...At news of a stranger the people all assemble, And each of them invites him home and asks him where he was born. Alleys and paths are cleared for him of petals in the morning, And fishermen and farmers bring him their loads at dusk.... They had left the world long ago, they had come here seeking refuge; They have lived like angels ever since, blessedly far away, No one in the cave knowing anything outside, Outsiders viewing only empty mountains and thick clouds. ...The fisherman, unaware of his great good fortune, Begins to think of country, of home, of worldly ties, Finds his way out of the cave again, past mountains and past rivers, Intending some time to return, when he has told his kin. He studies every step he takes, fixes it well in mind, And forgets that cliffs and peaks may vary their appearance. ...It is certain that to enter through the deepness of the mountain, A green river leads you, into a misty wood. But now, with spring-floods everywhere and floating peachpetals -- Which is the way to go, to find that hidden source? 079 樂府 李白 蜀道難 噫吁戲， 危乎高哉！ 蜀道之難難于上青天！ 蠶叢及魚鳧， 開國何茫然。 爾來四萬八千歲， 始與秦塞通人煙。 西當太白有鳥道， 可以橫絕峨眉巔。 地崩山摧壯士死， 然后天梯石棧方鉤連。 上有六龍回日之高標， 下有沖波逆折之回川。 黃鶴之飛尚不得， 猿猱欲度愁攀援。 青泥何盤盤， 百步九折縈巖巒， 捫參歷井仰脅息， 以手撫膺坐長嘆。 問君西游何時還？ 畏途巉巖不可攀。 但見悲鳥號古木， 雄飛雌從繞林間； 又聞子規啼， 夜月愁空山。 蜀道之難難于上青天！ 使人聽此凋朱顏。 連峰去天不盈尺， 枯松倒掛倚絕壁。 飛湍瀑流爭喧豗， 砯崖轉石萬壑雷。 其險也如此！ 嗟爾遠道之人， 胡為乎來哉？ 劍閣崢嶸而崔嵬， 一夫當關， 萬夫莫開； 所守或匪親， 化為狼與豺， 朝避猛虎， 夕避長蛇， 磨牙吮血， 殺人如麻。 錦城雖云樂， 不如早還家。 蜀道之難難于上青天， 側身西望常咨嗟。 Folk-song-styled-verse Li Bai HARD ROADS IN SHU Oh, but it is high and very dangerous! Such travelling is harder than scaling the blue sky. ...Until two rulers of this region Pushed their way through in the misty ages, Forty-eight thousand years had passed With nobody arriving across the Qin border. And the Great White Mountain, westward, still has only a bird’s path Up to the summit of Emei Peak -- Which was broken once by an earthquake and there were brave men lost, Just finishing the stone rungs of their ladder toward heaven. ...High, as on a tall flag, six dragons drive the sun, While the river, far below, lashes its twisted course. Such height would be hard going for even a yellow crane, So pity the poor monkeys who have only paws to use. The Mountain of Green Clay is formed of many circles- Each hundred steps, we have to turn nine turns among its mound -- Panting, we brush Orion and pass the Well Star, Then, holding our chests with our hands and sinking to the ground with a groan, We wonder if this westward trail will never have an end. The formidable path ahead grows darker, darker still, With nothing heard but the call of birds hemmed in by the ancient forest, Male birds smoothly wheeling, following the females; And there come to us the melancholy voices of the cuckoos Out on the empty mountain, under the lonely moon.... Such travelling is harder than scaling the blue sky. Even to hear of it turns the cheek pale, With the highest crag barely a foot below heaven. Dry pines hang, head down, from the face of the cliffs, And a thousand plunging cataracts outroar one another And send through ten thousand valleys a thunder of spinning stones. With all this danger upon danger, Why do people come here who live at a safe distance? ...Though Dagger-Tower Pass be firm and grim, And while one man guards it Ten thousand cannot force it, What if he be not loyal, But a wolf toward his fellows? ...There are ravenous tigers to fear in the day And venomous reptiles in the night With their teeth and their fangs ready To cut people down like hemp. Though the City of Silk be delectable, I would rather turn home quickly. Such travelling is harder than scaling the blue sky.... But I still face westward with a dreary moan. 080 樂府 李白 長相思之一 長相思， 在長安。 絡緯秋啼金井闌， 微霜凄凄簟色寒。 孤燈不明思欲絕， 卷帷望月空長嘆。 美人如花隔云端， 上有青冥之長天， 下有淥水之波瀾。 天長路遠魂飛苦， 夢魂不到關山難。 長相思， 摧心肝。 Folk-song-styled-verse Li Bai ENDLESS YEARNING I "I am endlessly yearning To be in Changan. ...Insects hum of autumn by the gold brim of the well; A thin frost glistens like little mirrors on my cold mat; The high lantern flickers; and. deeper grows my longing. I lift the shade and, with many a sigh, gaze upon the moon, Single as a flower, centred from the clouds. Above, I see the blueness and deepness of sky. Below, I see the greenness and the restlessness of water.... Heaven is high, earth wide; bitter between them flies my sorrow. Can I dream through the gateway, over the mountain? Endless longing Breaks my heart." 081 樂府 李白 長相思之二 日色已盡花含煙， 月明欲素愁不眠。 趙瑟初停鳳凰柱， 蜀琴欲奏鴛鴦弦。 此曲有意無人傳， 愿隨春風寄燕然。 憶君迢迢隔青天， 昔日橫波目， 今成流淚泉。 不信妾腸斷， 歸來看取明鏡前。 Folk-song-styled-verse Li Bai ENDLESS YEARNING II "The sun has set, and a mist is in the flowers; And the moon grows very white and people sad and sleepless. A Zhao harp has just been laid mute on its phoenix holder, And a Shu lute begins to sound its mandarin-duck strings.... Since nobody can bear to you the burden of my song, Would that it might follow the spring wind to Yanran Mountain. I think of you far away, beyond the blue sky, And my eyes that once were sparkling Are now a well of tears. ...Oh, if ever you should doubt this aching of my heart, Here in my bright mirror come back and look at me!" 082 樂府 李白 行路難之一 金樽清酒斗十千， 玉盤珍羞值萬錢。 停杯投箸不能食， 拔劍四顧心茫然。 欲渡黃河冰塞川， 將登太行雪暗天。 閑來垂釣碧溪上， 忽復乘舟夢日邊。 行路難！ 行路難！ 多歧路， 今安在？ 長風破浪會有時， 直掛云帆濟滄海。 Folk-song-styled-verse Li Bai THE HARD ROAD Pure wine costs, for the golden cup, ten thousand coppers a flagon, And a jade plate of dainty food calls for a million coins. I fling aside my food-sticks and cup, I cannot eat nor drink.... I pull out my dagger, I peer four ways in vain. I would cross the Yellow River, but ice chokes the ferry; I would climb the Taihang Mountains, but the sky is blind with snow.... I would sit and poise a fishing-pole, lazy by a brook -- But I suddenly dream of riding a boat, sailing for the sun.... Journeying is hard, Journeying is hard. There are many turnings -- Which am I to follow?.... I will mount a long wind some day and break the heavy waves And set my cloudy sail straight and bridge the deep, deep sea. 083 樂府 李白 行路難之二 大道如青天， 我獨不得出。 羞逐長安社中兒， 赤雞白狗賭梨栗。 彈劍作歌奏苦聲， 曳裾王門不稱情。 淮陰市井笑韓信， 漢朝公卿忌賈生。 君不見， 昔時燕家重郭隗， 擁彗折節無嫌猜； 劇辛樂毅感恩分， 輸肝剖膽效英才。 昭王白骨縈蔓草， 誰人更掃黃金臺？ 行路難， 歸去來？ Folk-song-styled-verse Li Bai HARD IS THE WAY OF THE WORLD II The way is broad like the blue sky, But no way out before my eye. I am ashamed to follow those who have no guts, Gambling on fighting cocks and dogs for pears and nuts. Feng would go homeward way, having no fish to eat; Zhou did not think to bow to noblemen was meet. General Han was mocked in the market-place; The brilliant scholar Jia was banished in disgrace. Have you not heard of King of Yan in days gone by, Who venerated talents and built Terrace high On which he offered gold to gifted men And stooped low and swept the floor to welcome them? Grateful, Ju Xin and Yue Yi came then And served him heart and soul, both full of stratagem. The King’s bones were now buried, who would sweep the floor of the Gold Terrace any more? Hard is the way. Go back without delay! 084 樂府 李白 行路難之三 有耳莫洗潁川水， 有口莫食首陽蕨。 含光混世貴無名， 何用孤高比云月？ 吾觀自古賢達人， 功成不退皆殞身。 子胥既棄吳江上， 屈原終投湘水濱。 陸機雄才豈自保？ 李斯稅駕苦不早。 華亭鶴唳詎可聞？ 上蔡蒼鷹何足道。 君不見， 吳中張翰稱達生， 秋風忽憶江東行。 且樂生前一杯酒， 何須身后千載名？ Folk-song-styled-verse Li Bai HARD IS THE WAY OF THE WORLD III Don’t wash your ears on hearing something you dislike Nor die of hunger like famous hermits on the Pike! Living without a fame among the motley crowd, Why should one be as lofty as the moon or cloud? Of ancient talents who failed to retire, there’s none But came to tragic ending after glory’s won. The head of General Wu was hung o’er city gate; In the river was drowned the poet laureate. The highly talented scholar wished in vain To preserve his life to hear the cry of the crane. Minister Li regretted not to have retired To hunt with falcon gray as he had long desired. Have you not heard of Zhang Han who resigned, carefree, To go home to eat his perch with high glee? Enjoy a cup of wine while you’re alive! Do not care if your fame will not survive! 085 樂府 李白 將進酒 君不見， 黃河之水天上來， 奔流到海不復回？ 君不見， 高堂明鏡悲白發， 朝如青絲暮成雪？ 人生得意須盡歡， 莫使金樽空對月， 天生我材必有用， 千金散盡還復來。 烹羊宰牛且為樂， 會須一飲三百杯。 岑夫子！ 丹丘生！ 將進酒； 君莫停。 與君歌一曲， 請君為我側耳聽。 鐘鼓饌玉不足貴， 但愿長醉不愿醒。 古來圣賢皆寂寞， 惟有飲者留其名。 陳王昔時宴平樂， 斗酒十千恣歡謔。 主人何為言少錢？ 徑須沽取對君酌。 五花馬， 千金裘。 呼兒將出換美酒， 與爾同消萬古愁。 Folk-song-styled-verse Li Bai BRINGING IN THE WINE See how the Yellow River’s waters move out of heaven. Entering the ocean, never to return. See how lovely locks in bright mirrors in high chambers, Though silken-black at morning, have changed by night to snow. ...Oh, let a man of spirit venture where he pleases And never tip his golden cup empty toward the moon! Since heaven gave the talent, let it be employed! Spin a thousand pieces of silver, all of them come back! Cook a sheep, kill a cow, whet the appetite, And make me, of three hundred bowls, one long drink! ...To the old master, Cen, And the young scholar, Danqiu, Bring in the wine! Let your cups never rest! Let me sing you a song! Let your ears attend! What are bell and drum, rare dishes and treasure? Let me be forever drunk and never come to reason! Sober men of olden days and sages are forgotten, And only the great drinkers are famous for all time. ...Prince Chen paid at a banquet in the Palace of Perfection Ten thousand coins for a cask of wine, with many a laugh and quip. Why say, my host, that your money is gone? Go and buy wine and we’ll drink it together! My flower-dappled horse, My furs worth a thousand, Hand them to the boy to exchange for good wine, And we’ll drown away the woes of ten thousand generations! 086 樂府 杜甫 兵車行 車轔轔， 馬蕭蕭， 行人弓箭各在腰。 耶娘妻子走相送， 塵埃不見咸陽橋。 牽衣頓足攔道哭， 哭聲直上干云霄。 道旁過者問行人， 行人但云點行頻。 或從十五北防河， 便至四十西營田。 去時里正與裹頭， 歸來頭白還戍邊。 邊亭流血成海水， 武皇開邊意未已。 君不聞， 漢家山東二百州， 千村萬落生荊杞？ 縱有健婦把鋤犁， 禾生隴畝無東西。 況復秦兵耐苦戰， 被驅不異犬與雞。 長者雖有問， 役夫敢申恨； 且如今年冬， 未休關西卒。 縣官急索租， 租稅從何出？ 信知生男惡， 反是生女好； 生女猶得嫁比鄰， 生男埋沒隨百草。 君不見， 青海頭， 古來白骨無人收？ 新鬼煩冤舊鬼哭， 天陰雨濕聲啾啾。 Folk-song-styled-verse Du Fu A SONG OF WAR-CHARIOTS The war-chariots rattle, The war-horses whinny. Each man of you has a bow and a quiver at his belt. Father, mother, son, wife, stare at you going, Till dust shall have buried the bridge beyond Changan. They run with you, crying, they tug at your sleeves, And the sound of their sorrow goes up to the clouds; And every time a bystander asks you a question, You can only say to him that you have to go. ...We remember others at fifteen sent north to guard the river And at forty sent west to cultivate the campfarms. The mayor wound their turbans for them when they started out. With their turbaned hair white now, they are still at the border, At the border where the blood of men spills like the sea -- And still the heart of Emperor Wu is beating for war. ...Do you know that, east of China’s mountains, in two hundred districts And in thousands of villages, nothing grows but weeds, And though strong women have bent to the ploughing, East and west the furrows all are broken down? ...Men of China are able to face the stiffest battle, But their officers drive them like chickens and dogs. Whatever is asked of them, Dare they complain? For example, this winter Held west of the gate, Challenged for taxes, How could they pay? ...We have learned that to have a son is bad luck- It is very much better to have a daughter Who can marry and