【昭明集】古風：鶴

翩翩飛來鶴 閒步在野塘

骨作梅枝瘦 雪染毛羽蒼

偶為時人見 讚其氣宇昂

亦有未識者 怪其嘯聲長

原非籠中物 指點又何妨

沖舉可千仞 俯仰任行藏

時訪懷道友 偶立孤山旁

來去青天外 一片白毫光

无题 Untitled

其實我更喜歡沉浸在詩歌之中，那裡永遠春日流麗，鳥語花香，遠離塵坌，沒有紛爭。歷史則不然，歷史的恢宏，厚重，滄桑，悲愴，還有沉積太久的解不開剪不斷的恩怨曲直常讓我感到難以承負，不得不中途掩卷，甚至淚流滿面。但也許是責任所使，使我不得不時常回歸歷史，有如重溫過往。

I would rather immerse myself in the world of poetry, where flowers come into blossom and birds are forever singing in the everlasting radiance of spring. Away from the everyday world, there are few conflicts or disputes. However, history is different. The grandeur and glory, the vicissitudes and tribulations, the many grievances, the rights and wrongdoings, are often too heavy for me to bear. Many times I cannot continue my reading, with tears falling from my eyes. Yet, perhaps it is my mission. I have to return to our history, as if to live it through once more.

五千大戲盡輝煌

我獨何為感淒涼

個中曲直說不盡

一路走來是滄桑

戲中你我今猶在

掩卷卻向天茫茫

滿目辛酸俱成淚

君莫笑我甚荒唐

Of grandeur and glory

The play of China's five thousand year history might be

Yet why do I feel so sad and lonely?

Endless stories and tragedies cannot all be written down

Even after oceans have turned into dry lands

Vicissitudes and tribulations are still here with us.

Once deeply involved in the play

Where are you and I today?

Closing my book, I look up to the skies for an answer

But only bitterness fills my eyes

And turns into tears

Am I too absurd?

Laugh at me if you may.

Translated by Jennifer Zeng

漁歌唱晚

遠山微茫暮色多

晚開落日照明河

中流鼓枻歸帆隱

五湖浪跡連煙波

江聲互答漁唱起

調入千古滄浪歌

隔水清商能洗耳

任它雨打風吹何

秋詩、秋荷

秋詩

露從今夜下

詩入秋來多

墨染菊花氣

寫成東籬歌

秋荷

風舉動天香

結根在野塘

不得羽化去

早晚畏嚴霜

嚴霜連百日

花期不共長

一日一凋落

三秋盡淒涼

秋山、秋江

秋山

蕭蕭落木萬壑秋

鳥飛不到人跡幽

白雲深處堪高臥

風落松花卻打頭

 

秋江

秋風搖動蘆荻花

亂山萬點歸暮鴉

江天隱隱漁燈小

五湖煙霞可泛家

秋風 Autumn Wind、秋夜 An Autumn Night

秋風 Autumn Wind

遼天之末起秋風

千里長驅浮雲空

穿林初疑銜枚走

過崖猶響萬壑松

From far off, Autumn wind runs at us in a rush!
Across a thousand miles, displacing clouds with sky,
(And crowding through the dark, tense soldiers in a hush*),
Then past the cliff, through countless pines, like echoes fly.

* "銜枚走" (hold in mouth/bear, trunk, walk) is hard to translate or make much sense in English. It has no overt reference to soldiers, battle, or night attack. The author,Yuan Xi, said that in old times when soldiers were launching an attack secretly, they usually held something in their mouth - and put something like a tree branch inside their horses' mouths - so that there would be no "unexpected" sound to betray their suprise attack. Xi said when the wind passed through the woods, it gave her a feeling of tension, secrecy, just like that of a secret attack in the night. "銜枚走" is easy to understand in  Chinese, as in movies these scenes are often shown; but in English, people could find it hard to understand. So Xi agreed with the statement of a soldiers' secret attack.

Translated by Jennifer Zeng and Damian Robin

 

秋夜 An Autumn Night

漏轉更長筆意遲

漫煮茶湯病題詩

誰共秋光消磨盡

憔悴黃花未死時

The timer measures; night moves on; pen; thought; late.  

Through sickness haze I badly brew some tea; some verses write.

Who, linked tight to Autumn, wears away and finishes,

O withered, yellow flower not yet dead up to this date ?

Translated by Jennifer Zeng and Damian Robin

秋雁、秋興、秋望

秋雁

遙望雲山闊

秋空雁陣低

寒潭不留影

只因歸飛急

 

秋興

清角野戍殘秋

荒江落日渡頭

天涯雲路望斷

白鳥一片悠悠

 

秋望

夕陽古木秋煙

青山野渚相連

風裡襟懷何寄

晚鴉暮色江天 

梨花詩 Pear Blossom

寂歷三春誰家院  浩蕩東風吹過牆

玉樹千枝燃白雪  曲徑深巷梨花香

夜半溶溶光浸月  晝永脈脈煙生涼

時逢清明得氣早  開得冷艷天一方

仙子瑤台名有籍  謫來立盡小劫長

夢裡輕寒尤料峭  認取雲山是故鄉

Standing alone in Spring, whose courtyard is this?

Briskly, east wind overspills the wall,           

A thousand trees of sudden burning snow, 

pear blossom’s fragrance scorching lane and trail.           

Night descends, they beacon back the moon. 

At daybreak, they’re caressed by misty cool.

While Qingming*’s coming, they’re first to grasp Spring’s soul, 

making this far-off place beautiful.

 

I’m wondering: were they beings cast down          

to earth, to experience, whole, life’s jail?             

In cold night dreams they still remember lightness, 

home beyond the cloudy mountains’ rail.

* The Qingming or Ching Ming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day in English, is a traditional Chinese festival on the first day of the fifth solar term of the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. This makes it the 15th day after the Spring Equinox, either 4 or 5 April in a given year. Other common translations include Chinese Memorial Day and Ancestors' Day.

Translated by Jennifer Zeng and Damian Robin

梨花

雨打清明三月初

杖頭載酒醉相扶

梨花枝下歌白雪

郢中古調聽不俗

東風吹起花千瓣

飛入夢中有也無

天淨沙•梨花

清明暖日山光

幾家青瓦園牆

望若春雲浩蕩

梨花陌上

好風吹送天香

陌上（調寄天淨沙） On the Way

乍寒乍暖時光，

鷓鴣聲裡斜陽，

驛路南來北往。

相逢陌上，

晚風油壁紗窗。

Quick-change season, feels warm then low.

Chatterings, francolins*, the sun angled low.

Coming south, going north, post-road flow,

Meet as we go.

Night breeze—painted walls, screened window.

*Francolins are terrestrial (though not flightless) birds; they feed on insects, vegetable matter and seeds.

Translated by Jennifer Zeng and Damian Robin 

白蓮歌 Song to the White Lotus

愛彼白蓮花

采得月精華

譬如幽人立

皎皎若明霞

不做芙蓉冠

不生神仙家

我隨清風至

遇爾水之涯

Oh, white lotus, so lovely,

Growing essence of moonlight;

Standing graceful, pure lady,

As sunshine makes clouds bright.

 

Nature’s crowns, you’ve no need for;

High immortals don't hold you.

With the wind may my wings soar

Passed world's seas to be near you.

Translation by Jennifer Zeng | Rendition into formal English verse by Damian Robin