Sending Off Ling Che
Sending Off Ling Che
Liu Changqing (709-785)
A temple in the vast green bamboo grove
Resounds its bell within the depth and dusk;
The setting sun slopes down your bamboo hat,
As going back from these green hills, you must.
| Chinese 送靈澈 劉長卿 蒼蒼竹林寺 杳杳鐘聲晚 荷笠帶斜陽 青山獨歸遠 | Pronunciation |
Farewell to Mystic Mountain
Farewell to Mystic Mountain
Huangfu Ran (~ 716-769)All day the water flows until it fades, unseen,
At dusk, when grass grows deep in spring and earth recedes—
At times, it’s true, the dogs will bark and chickens squawk,
But who would pull an almond nut from berry seeds?
| Chinese 送鄭二之茅山 皇甫冉 水流絕澗終日 草長深山暮春 犬吠雞鳴幾處 |
Fresh Wood (for Luo Xue)
Fresh Wood (for Luo Xue)
Wen Tianxiang (1236-1283)A sigh, sigh sound from woods up high to low;
We close the gate and cover up with fur—
Spring feelings flow along the mountain gorge;
At dawn I rise to touch and look at her.
| Chinese 贈羅雪崖樵青 文天祥 蕭蕭山下人 閉門衣裘單 春心動溪谷 曉起捫松看 | Pronunciation |
Midnight Song 2
Midnight Song 2
Xiao Yan, Emperor Wu of Liang (464-549)
The morning sunshine strokes the window silk
As wind and light together play with strings;
She smiles with subtle ease and lifts her eyes
As when a butterfly brings up its wings.
Cold Meal Night
Cold Meal Night
Cui Daorong (~895)
In Manchu land the pears now blossom white
As moonlight broken by the blowing wind.
Here all the people fast for Cold Meal Night;
I gaze at home alone—cast off and thin.
A Nightly Song
A Nightly Song
Shen Yue (441-513)
I leave the door ajar for you to come
But every night we part before it’s bright;
The moonlight shines across my pillowcase
To hide in bed between the lantern’s light.
Fisherman’s Gully
Fisherman’s Gully
Huangfu Ran (716-769)
I’d like for us to chase the tides beyond,
But time is up for us as fishing men;
Now face-to-face, aware we will not meet—
The end has come, we must begin again.
A Play for Cold Meal Day
A Play for Cold Meal Day
Lu Yanrang (~ 900)On Twelfth Street here it’s like a packed bazaar,
A world of dust that’s choked and cannot clear;
We work like ox until our sweat pours out,
No time to sit and watch the flowers near.
| Chinese 寒食日戲 盧延讓 十二街如市 紅塵咽不開 灑蹄驄馬汗 沒處看花來 | Pronunciation Hán Shí Rì Xì |
Cicadas
Cicadas
Yu Shinan (558-638)He dangles down to drink the clear light dew,
Exuding sound through the green leaf brush;
And flowing far and wide, his voice flies on
Without the need of wind from autumn’s rush.
| Chinese 蟬 虞世南 垂緌飲清露 流響出疏桐 居高聲自遠 非是藉秋風 | Pronunciation Chán |
Bamboo Retreat
Bamboo Retreat
Wang Wei (692-761)Alone I sit within the bamboo grove
And lift my lute to strum and hum along;
Within this depth of woods a man forgets —
The bright moon comes to mix its light with song.
| Chinese 竹裏館 王維 獨坐幽篁裏 彈琴復長嘯 深林人不知 明月來相照 | Pronunciation Zhú Lǐ Guǎn Wáng Wéi |
