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 |
Deer Woods
Deer Woods
Wang Wei (692-761)Deserted woods — and no one here to see,
Yet still out there I hear the words of spite;
Returning deep within the woods, a scene:
A patch of green shade moss reflects the light.
| Chinese 鹿柴 王維 空山不見人 但聞人語響 返景入深林 復照青苔上 | Pronunciation Lù Chái Wáng Wéi |
Watching the Plum Blossoms
Watching the Plum Blossoms
Lu You (1125-1209)The plum trees bloom above the gold grass hill —
Though old, a man cannot enjoy their fluff?
Light mist, the moon, the far-off cattle still —
There’s life and death; don’t fret the common stuff.
| Chinese 看梅絕句 陸游 梅花樹下黃茆丘 古人尚能愛花不 月淡煙深聽牧笛 |
For Li Ju, Scholar
For Li Ju, Scholar
Sikong Tu (~720–790)
The winds blow high before the five long peaks
To bring the life that lifts us from our flaws;
For miles around, no clouds – a lonely crane –
It seems the same, but he’s in heaven’s jaws.
