Other Poets English Translations
Click on the title of each poem for the text in Chinese characters, pinyin and literal translation.
Walking from Xiamen and Looking at the Blue Sea
Cao Cao
East of Jieshi mountain, I gaze at the blue sea.
The water dances so gently, the mountain island towers.
Trees here grow thick, a hundred grasses are lush.
The autumn wind soughs, great waves rise up.
The path of the sun and moon, seems to come from within.
The splendid Milky Way, seems to come from inside.
Oh, I am so lucky, to be singing my song!
Seven Pace Song
Cao Zhi
Boiling beans burns the beanstalk,
Beans inside the pan cry:
We're both grown from one root,
Why so fast to boil each other?
Yellow Crane Tower
Cui Hao
The yellow crane has long since gone away,
All that here remains is yellow crane tower.
The yellow crane once gone does not return,
White clouds drift slowly for a thousand years.
The river is clear in Hanyang by the trees,
And fragrant grass grows thick on parrot isle.
In this dusk, I don't know where my homeland lies,
The river's mist-covered waters bring me sorrow.
You Do Not Come
Fang Gan
The road is long, and east or west, I have no-one to ask,
The cold has come, but I've not place to send your cold weather clothes.
When you left, we'd just planted the tree before the hall,
The tree already bears a nest, the person's not returned.
Looking for Hermit Hu
Gao Qi
I pass over water, and pass over water again,
I look at the flowers, and look at the flowers again.
Travelling the river, there's a spring breeze,
Before I am aware, I reach your home.
Homesickness
Li Gou
People say the setting sun marks the edge of the sky,
I look towards the edge of the sky, but cannot see my home.
Now I hate the blue mountain which parts us from each other,
The blue mountain still is covered by evening cloud.
Mid-Autumn Night
Li Qiao
The round soul's climbing into the cold void,
They say it is the same in all four seas.
How can one know a thousand miles away,
If they do not have rain and wind?
Wind
Li Qiao
In the third month of autumn it blows down the leaves,
It can open up the second month's flowers.
On the river, waves of a thousand feet,
Among the bamboo, ten thousand dry and slanting.
In the Army Camp, Climbing a Gate Tower
Luo Binwang
Atop the wall, the wind is strong and chill;
On the river, the water vapour's cold.
What day will these soldiers' uniforms
Singing and dancing enter Chang'an?
Ode to the Goose
Luo Binwang
Goose, goose, goose,
You bend your neck towards the sky and sing.
Your white feathers float on the emerald water,
Your red feet push the clear waves.
Travelling Early to Shangshan
Wen Tingjun
In the morning, he starts to move at the journey bell,
He travels, thinking sorrowfully of his home.
A cock crows; a thatched cottage; the moon;
On the planks of the bridge, his footsteps mark the frost.
Mongolian oak leaves fall on the mountain road,
Citron blossom's bright by the post house wall.
Still his thoughts are of his dream of Duling,
The pond full of geese and wild ducks.
After Rain
Yue Fu
After rain, the forest's sleek,
Between the pines, the moon startles my heart.
I smile and think of home,
A foreign guest in a foreign land.
Sun and Rain
Yue Fu
This morning there was sun and rain,
The earth is fragrant, but my feet are dirty.
My home's beyond the edge of the clouds,
The foreigner should have a happy heart.
Song
Han Yuefu
Sunflowers in the field are purest green,
The morning dew waits for the sun to dry it.
The warm spring spreads around its favours,
Ten thousand things are growing in the radiance.
I often fear that autumn's season will come,
Flowers and leaves will yellow and wither and wane.
The hundred rivers flow east towards the sea,
When will they come back to the west again?
If the young and vigorous do not work hard,
In old age, they will be sorry in vain.
South of the River
Han Yuefu
South of the river, you can pick lotuses,
How like a field are the lotus leaves!
Fish play in the lotus leaves:
Fish play east of the lotus leaves,
Fish play west of the lotus leaves,
Fish play south of the lotus leaves,
Fish play north of the lotus leaves.
Midnight Song of the Seasons: Spring Song
The spring wind moves a spring heart,
My eye flows to gaze at the mountain forest.
The mountain forest's extraordinarily beautiful,
The bright spring birds are pouring out clear sound.
Midnight Song of the Seasons: Summer Song
Southern Dynasties Yuefu
Now I've finished tending the fields and silkworms,
The yearning woman's life is still bitter.
I have a new set of summer clothes
To send to my departed husband.
Midnight Song of the Seasons: Autumn Song
Southern Dynasties Yuefu
The autumn wind enters through the window,
The gauze curtain starts to flutter and fly.
I raise my head and look at the bright moon,
And send my feelings a thousand miles in its light.
Midnight Song of the Seasons: Winter Song
Southern Dynasties Yuefu
If you wish to make a good friend,
Just look at the pine and cypress woods.
Amid the frost, they do not fall to earth,
Without disloyalty when the year is cold.
