Drunken Moon 醉月

Waiting for Ding at my Master's Mountain Hut

2008-11-26T11:31:00.000-08:00

The evening sun crosses the western range,

The many ravines swiftly have turned to dusk;

The moon in the pines brings the evening cool,

The breeze over mountain rills rivets my attention.

Woodsmen returning crave their rest,

In the mist birds begin choosing their perches.

There's only I waiting for you to come,

A lone lute biding by the wisteria path.

Meng Hao-jan 689~740

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，烟鳥棲初定。

之子期宿來，孤琴候蘿徑。

孟浩然 689~740

Reminiscing　　相思

2008-09-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

photo by autan

Red beans growing in the south,
Come spring how many shoots will sprout?
I want you to gather bushels,
These things remind most of us．

Wang Wei (701-761)

紅豆生南國,

春來發幾枝?

願君多采擷,

此物最相思．

王維 (701-761)

Autumn Wind Song 秋風辭

2008-07-31T04:56:00.000-07:00

Autumn winds kick up, white clouds fly by,

Plants yellow and leaves fall, wild geese return south.

Orchids have their elegance, chrysanthemums, their perfume.

Cherish the beautiful woman one can never forget

Launch the galleon, cross the River Fen

Cut across the current, raise a froth of white caps

Sound the flutes and drums, sing out sea shanties

In our ecstacy our sorrows are so many

How long is youth and then we're old!

Han Wu-ti (140-87 BCE)

秋風起兮白雲飛，

草木黃落兮雁南歸。

蘭有秀兮菊有芳，

懷佳人兮不能忘。

泛樓船兮濟汾河，

橫中流兮揚素波。

簫鼓鳴兮發棹歌，

歡樂極兮哀情多。

少壯幾時兮奈老何！

漢武帝 (140-87 BCE)

Evening: Sent to Chang Chi and Chou Kuang 晚寄張十八助教周郎博士

2008-07-30T09:28:00.000-07:00

As the sunlight dims, the view expands,

I return home and relax under the eaves.

The clear weather clouds are like cotton shreds,

The new moon seems a sharpened sickle.

Excitement for the open unbidden starts,

Thoughts of decorum I've long deplored.

I'm alive, we can go hand in hand,

Lamenting that our years are running over.

Han Yü (768-824)

日薄風景曠，

出歸偃前簷。

晴雲如擘絮，

新月似磨鐮。

田野興偶動，

衣冠情久厭。

吾生可攜手，

歎息歲將淹。

韓愈 (768-824)

Mountain Faring 山行

2008-07-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

Off high in the cold mountains a stone path slants,

Somewhere deep in those white clouds huts of men.

I'll stop my cart, sit, and cherish the maple wood evening,

Its frosted leaves red as flowers in the second moon.

Tu Mu (803~852)

遠上寒山石徑斜，

白雲深處有人家。

停車坐愛楓林晚，

霜葉紅於二月花。

杜牧 (803~852)

On the Jade Green River . . . 江碧鳥逾白

2008-07-24T11:02:00.000-07:00

On the jade green river seagulls look even whiter,

On the azure mountain red flowers appear to burn;

I've watched yet another spring go by,

When will it be the year for my return?

Tu Fu (712-770)

江碧鳥逾白，

山清花欲燃；

今春看又過，

何日是歸年。

杜甫 (712-770)

A Spring Dawn 春曉

2008-07-23T05:47:00.000-07:00

Spring sleeping, I missed the dawn;

Everywhere I hear chittering birds.

Last night came sounds of wind and rain;

Fallen blossoms--who knows how many?

春眠不覺曉，

處處聞啼鳥。

夜來風雨聲，

花落知多少？

孟浩然 (689～740)

Egrets 白鷺

2008-07-23T05:17:00.000-07:00

Egrets

In frosty garb, snow blossoms, and sapphire beaks

The flock catch fish amidst the shadowy brook

In startled flight they go off to shimmering green peaks

A lone tree's pear blossoms fallen in the night wind

Tu Mu (803-852)

白鷺

霜衣雪花青玉嘴,

群捕魚兒溪影中。

驚飛遠映碧山去，

一樹梨花落晚風。

杜牧 (803-852)

Hut Among the Bamboos 竹里館

2008-07-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hut Among the Bamboos

Sitting alone in the dark bamboo thicket,

Strumming my lute and repeatedly sighing;

Deep in this grove where no one knows,

The bright moon comes for company.

Wang Wei (701-761)

竹里館

獨坐幽篁裡

彈琴復長嘯

深林人不知

明月來相照

王維 (701-761)

Stopping Over on the Jiande River

2008-07-10T06:44:00.000-07:00

My bobbing boat moored to a misty bank,

The sun sets and this traveler longs anew.

O'er broad fields heavens descend upon the trees,

As on the crystal river the moon approaches man.

Meng Hao-jan (691-740)

宿建德江

移舟泊烟渚，

日暮客愁新。

野旷天低树，

江清月近人。

孟浩然 (691-740)

A Pair of Yellow Orioles 兩個黃鸝

2008-07-10T05:59:00.000-07:00

A pair of yellow orioles

sing in the emerald willow,

A line of white egrets

ascends to the azure sky,

My window holds

the ever snow-capped West Range,

My door anchors

the 10,000-league ships of East Wu

Tu Fu (712-770)

兩個黃鸝鳴翠柳,

一行白鷺上青天.

窗含西嶺千秋雪,

門泊東吳萬里船.

杜甫 (712-770)

Thinking of My Brothers in Shandong on the Double Nine 九月九日憶山東兄

2008-07-09T06:18:00.000-07:00

As a stranger alone in this strange land,

When there's a festival, I think often of my family.

I know from afar my brothers are climbing the heights,

All pinning on dogwood sprigs, less one man.

Wang Wei

九月九日憶山東兄*

獨在異鄉為異客,

每逢佳節倍思親.

遙知兄弟登高處,

遍插茱萸少一人.

王維

* The Double Nine Festival occurred on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. The number nine in Taoism was associated with yang, the male principle, and so it was a masculine festival. A tradition was for men to climb to the heights and sun themselves, the sun being a yang element. It was considered to be good for one's health on the Double Nine to pin a sprig of the cornel dogwood (Cornelis officinalis) to one's gown.

Deer Cottage 鹿柴

2008-07-09T04:34:00.000-07:00

Deserted mountain--I see no one,

But I hear sounds of peoples' voices;

The returning bright, enters my deep wood

Again to shimmer on the green lichen .

Wang Wei (701-761)

鹿柴

空山不見人,

但聞人語響,

返景入深林,

復照靑苔上

王維 (701-761)

Three Occasional Poems

2008-01-15T07:28:00.000-08:00

[Written on the Occasion of a Visit to Ch'in in the Autumn of 759]

(One of Three)

Dismounting on an old battleground,

Everywhere I see only vast emptiness.

On the mournful wind drifting clouds flee,

Yellowed leaves drop before me.

Scavenger ants crawl through rotted bones

Also entwined in the creeper grass.

Because old men passed by sighing,

Today's men still expand their bounds.

Chinese and barbarian both win and lose,

Our borders are not often whole.

How can we find a General Chien Po

So our troops all can sleep in peace?

(Two of Three)

On a crisp autumn day I climb a cold mountain

To look south on the Mayi District

Where surrendered troops attacked the barbarians of the east

Hale and hearty, now none survive.

Barbarian yurts in disordered solitude

Above them sailing clouds of grief.

The old and infirm weep along the road

Yearning to hear the end of arms and men.

In Yeh this happens again and again

And the dead pile up like hills.

Many generals already are reed and mud,

Who rushed to scheme with whom?

(Three of Three)

A year of plenty, who says it's late?

Sweetness of the rains lies not in speed.

For tilling fields the fall rains suffice,

Grain heads even now glisten along the roads.

In the ninth moon spring's sprouts'

Faces grow old in a day.

I urge retired scholars

Not to lament that they still rot.

The time has come to show your talents--

There is no too soon or too late.

But startle the deer-skin hermit

And forget life sequestered in fragrant glades.

Tu Fu (712-770)

遣興三首

下馬古戰場，
四顧但茫然。
風悲浮雲去，
黃葉墜我前。

朽骨穴螻蟻，
又為蔓草纏。
故老行嘆息，
今人尚開邊。

漢虜互勝負，
封疆不常全。
安得廉恥將，
三軍同晏眠。

高秋登塞山，
南望馬邑州。
降虜東擊胡，
壯健盡不留。

穹廬莽牢落，
上有行雲愁。
老弱哭道路，
願聞甲兵休。

鄴中事反覆，
死人積如丘。
諸將已茅土，
載驅誰與謀。

豐年孰云遲，
甘澤不在早。
耕田秋雨足，
禾黍已映道。

春苗九月交，
顏色同日老。
勸汝衡門士，
忽悲尚枯槁。

時來展材力，
先後無醜好。
但訝鹿皮翁，
忘機對芳草。

杜甫 (公元 712-770)

Mourning for My Wife

2008-01-15T06:41:00.000-08:00

Of age, we became man and wife,

And now it's been seventeen years.

We couldn't see enough of each other,

Much less be apart for long.

My hair already is so very white,

Will my body want to stay whole long?

At last we should lie in the same hole,

Not yet dead, my tears fall and fall.

Mei Yao-ch'en (1002-1060)

悼亡

結髮為夫婦，

於今十七年。

相看猶不足，

何況是長捐。

我鬢已多白，

此身寧久全？

終當與同穴，

未死淚漣漣。

梅堯臣

Stopping among the Mountains on an Autumn Night

2008-01-10T08:29:00.000-08:00

Solitary mountains following a fresh rain,

The weather's a late arriving autumn.

A stunning moon shines among the pines,

While a clear spring runs over the rocks.

Bamboos rustle as girls return from baths,

Lotuses sway under our fishing boat.

Free to linger in the spring perfume,

A prince could abandon himself.

Wang Wei (700-761)

山居秋暝

空山新雨後，

天氣晚來秋。

明月松間照，

清泉石上流。

竹喧歸浣女，

蓮動下漁舟。

隨意春芳歇，

王孫自可留。

王維（公元700─761）

Drunken Moon 醉月

Waiting for Ding at my Master's Mountain Hut

Reminiscing 相思

Autumn Wind Song 秋風辭

Evening: Sent to Chang Chi and Chou Kuang 晚寄張十八助教周郎博士

Mountain Faring 山行

On the Jade Green River . . . 江碧鳥逾白

A Spring Dawn 春曉

Egrets 白鷺

Hut Among the Bamboos 竹里館

Stopping Over on the Jiande River

A Pair of Yellow Orioles 兩個黃鸝

Thinking of My Brothers in Shandong on the Double Nine 九月九日憶山東兄

Deer Cottage 鹿柴

Three Occasional Poems

Mourning for My Wife

Stopping among the Mountains on an Autumn Night

Reminiscing　　相思