170

七言律詩

崔顥

黃鶴樓

昔人已乘黃鶴去， 此地空余黃鶴樓。
黃鶴一去不复返， 白云千載空悠悠。
晴川歷歷漢陽樹， 芳草萋萋鸚鵡洲。
日暮鄉關何處是？ 煙波江上使人愁。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Cui Hao

THE YELLOW CRANE TERRACE

Where long ago a yellow crane bore a sage to heaven,
Nothing is left now but the Yellow Crane Terrace.
The yellow crane never revisited earth,
And white clouds are flying without him for ever.
...Every tree in Hanyang becomes clear in the water,
And Parrot Island is a nest of sweet grasses;
But I look toward home, and twilight grows dark
With a mist of grief on the river waves.

171

七言律詩

崔顥

行經華陰

岧嶢太華俯咸京， 天外三峰削不成。
武帝祠前云欲散， 仙人掌上雨初晴。
河山北枕秦關險， 驛樹西連漢畤平。
借問路傍名利客， 無如此處學長生。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Cui Hao

PASSING THROUGH HUAYIN

Lords of the capital, sharp, unearthly,
The Great Flower's three points pierce through heaven.
Clouds are parting above the Temple of the Warring Emperor,
Rain dries on the mountain, on the Giant's Palm.
Ranges and rivers are the strength of this western gate,
Whence roads and trails lead downward into China.
...O pilgrim of fame, O seeker of profit,
Why not remain here and lengthen your days?

172

七言律詩

祖詠

望薊門

燕台一去客心惊， 簫鼓喧喧漢將營。
万里寒光生積雪， 三邊曙色動危旌。
沙場烽火侵胡月， 海畔云山擁薊城。
少小雖非投筆吏， 論功還欲請長纓。

Five-character-regular-verse

Zu Yong

LOOKING TOWARD AN INNER GATE
OF THE GREAT WALL

My heart sank when I headed north from Yan Country
To the camps of China echoing ith bugle and drum.
...In an endless cold light of massive snow,
Tall flags on three borders rise up like a dawn.
War-torches invade the barbarian moonlight,
Mountain-clouds like chairmen bear the Great Wall from the sea.
...Though no youthful clerk meant to be a great general,
I throw aside my writing-brush --
Like the student who tossed off cap for a lariat,
I challenge what may come.

173

七言律詩

李頎

送魏万之京

朝聞游子唱驪歌， 昨夜微霜初度河。
鴻雁不堪愁里听， 云山況是客中過。
關城樹色催寒近， 御苑砧聲向晚多。
莫見長安行樂處， 空令歲月易蹉跎。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Li Qi

A FAREWELL TO WEI WAN

The travellers' parting-song sounds in the dawn.
Last night a first frost came over the river;
And the crying of the wildgeese grieves my sad heart
Bounded by a gloom of cloudy mountains....
Here in the Gate City, day will flush cold
And washing-flails quicken by the gardens at twilight --
How long shall the capital content you,
Where the months and the years so vainly go by?

174

七言律詩

崔曙

九日登望仙台呈劉明府

漢文皇帝有高台， 此日登臨曙色開。
三晉云山皆北向， 二陵風雨自東來。
關門令尹誰能識？ 河上仙翁去不回，
且欲竟尋彭澤宰， 陶然共醉菊花杯。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Cui Shu

A CLIMB ON THE MOUNTAIN HOLIDAY
TO THE TERRACE WHENCE ONE SEES THE MAGICIAN
A POEM SENT TO VICE-PREFECT LU

The Han Emperor Wen bequeathed us this terrace
Which I climb to watch the coming dawn.
Cloudy peaks run northward in the three Jin districts,
And rains are blowing westward through the two Ling valleys.
...Who knows but me about the Guard at the Gate,
Or where the Magician of the River Bank is,
Or how to find that magistrate, that poet,
Who was as fond as I am of chrysanthemums and winecups?

175

七言律詩

李白

登金陵鳳凰台

鳳凰台上鳳凰游， 鳳去台空江自流。
吳宮花草埋幽徑， 晉代衣冠成古邱。
三台半落青山外， 二水中分白鷺洲。
總為浮云能蔽日， 長安不見使人愁。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Li Bai

ON CLIMBING IN NANJING TO THE TERRACE
OF PHOENIXES

Phoenixes that played here once, so that the place was named for them,
Have abandoned it now to this desolate river;
The paths of Wu Palace are crooked with weeds;
The garments of Qin are ancient dust.
...Like this green horizon halving the Three Peaks,
Like this Island of White Egrets dividing the river,
A cloud has arisen between the Light of Heaven and me,
To hide his city from my melancholy heart.

176

七言律詩

高适

送李少府貶峽中王少府貶長沙

嗟君此別意何如？ 駐馬銜杯問謫居。
巫峽啼猿數行淚， 衡陽歸雁几封書。
青楓江上秋帆遠， 白帝城邊古木疏。
圣代即今多雨露， 暫時分手莫躊躇。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Gao Shi

TO VICE-PREFECTS LI AND WANG DEGRADED AND
TRANSFERRED TO XIAZHONG AND CHANGSHA

What are you thinking as we part from one another,
Pulling in our horses for the stirrup-cups?
Do these tear-streaks mean Wu Valley monkeys all weeping,
Or wildgeese returning with news from Heng Mountain?....
On the river between green maples an autumn sail grows dim,
There are only a few old trees by the wall of the White God City....
But the year is bound to freshen us with a dew of heavenly favour --
Take heart, we shall soon be together again!

177

七言律詩

岑參

奉和中書舍人賈至早朝大明宮

雞鳴紫陌曙光寒， 鶯囀皇州春色闌。
金闕曉鐘開万戶， 玉階仙仗擁千官。
花迎劍佩星初落， 柳拂旌旗露未乾。
獨有鳳凰池上客， 陽春一曲和皆難。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Cen Can

AN EARLY AUDIENCE AT THE PALACE OF LIGHT
HARMONIZING SECRETARY JIA ZHI'S POEM

Cock-crow, the Purple Road cold in the dawn;
Linnet songs, court roofs tinted with April;
At the Golden Gate morning bell, countless doors open,
And up the jade steps float a thousand officials
With flowery scabbards.... Stars have gone down;
Willows are brushing the dew from the flags --
And, alone on the Lake of the Phoenix, a guest
Is chanting too well The Song of Bright Spring.

178

七言律詩

王維

和賈舍人早朝大明宮之作

絳幘雞人送曉籌， 尚衣方進翠云裘。
九天閶闔開宮殿， 万國衣冠拜冕旒。
日色才臨仙掌動， 香煙欲傍袞龍浮。
朝罷須裁五色詔， 佩聲歸向鳳池頭。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Wang Wei

AN EARLY AUDIENCE AT THE PALACE OF LIGHT
HARMONIZING SECRETARY JIA ZHI POEM

The red-capped Cock-Man has just announced morning;
The Keeper of the Robes brings Jade-Cloud Furs;
Heaven's nine doors reveal the palace and its courtyards;
And the coats of many countries bow to the Pearl Crown.
Sunshine has entered the giants' carven palms;
Incense wreathes the Dragon Robe:
The audience adjourns-and the five-coloured edict
Sets girdle-beads clinking toward the Lake of the Phoenix.

179

七言律詩

王維

奉和圣制從蓬萊向興慶閣道中留春雨中春望之作應制

渭水自縈秦塞曲， 黃山舊繞漢宮斜。
鑾輿迥出千門柳， 閣道回看上苑花。
云里帝城雙鳳闕， 雨中春樹万人家。
為乘陽气行時令， 不是宸游玩物華。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Wang Wei

LOOKING DOWN IN A SPRING-RAIN ON THE COURSE
FROM FAIRY-MOUNTAIN PALACE TO THE PAVILION OF
INCREASE HARMONIZING THE EMPEROR'S POEM

Round a turn of the Qin Fortress winds the Wei River,
And Yellow Mountain foot-hills enclose the Court of China;
Past the South Gate willows comes the Car of Many Bells
On the upper Palace-Garden Road-a solid length of blossom;
A Forbidden City roof holds two phoenixes in cloud;
The foliage of spring shelters multitudes from rain;
And now, when the heavens are propitious for action,
Here is our Emperor ready-no wasteful wanderer.

180

七言律詩

王維

積雨輞川庄作

積雨空林煙火遲， 蒸藜炊黍餉東災。
漠漠水田飛白鷺， 陰陰夏木囀黃鸝。
山中習靜觀朝槿， 松下清齋折露葵。
野老与人爭席罷， 海鷗何事更相疑？

Seven-character-regular-verse

Wang Wei

IN MY LODGE AT WANG CHUAN
AFTER A LONG RAIN

The woods have stored the rain, and slow comes the smoke
As rice is cooked on faggots and carried to the fields;
Over the quiet marsh-land flies a white egret,
And mango-birds are singing in the full summer trees....
I have learned to watch in peace the mountain morningglories,
To eat split dewy sunflower-seeds under a bough of pine,
To yield the post of honour to any boor at all....
Why should I frighten sea gulls, even with a thought?

181

七言律詩

王維

酬郭給事

洞門高閣靄余輝， 桃李陰陰柳絮飛。
禁里疏鐘官舍晚， 省中啼鳥吏人稀。
晨搖玉佩趨金殿， 夕奉天書拜瑣闈。
強欲從君無那老， 將因臥病解朝衣。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Wang Wei

HARMONIZING A POEM BY PALACE-ATTENDANT GUO

High beyond the thick wall a tower shines with sunset
Where peach and plum are blooming and the willowcotton flies.
You have heard in your office the court-bell of twilight;
Birds find perches, officials head for home.
Your morning-jade will tinkle as you thread the golden palace;
You will bring the word of Heaven from the closing gates at night.
And I should serve there with you; but being full of years,
I have taken off official robes and am resting from my troubles.

182

七言律詩

杜甫

蜀相

丞相祠堂何處尋？ 錦官城外柏森森，
映階碧草自春色， 隔葉黃鸝空好音。
三顧頻煩天下計， 兩朝開濟老臣心。
出師未捷身先死， 長使英雄淚滿襟。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Du Fu

THE TEMPLE OF THE PREMIER OF SHU

Where is the temple of the famous Premier? --
In a deep pine grove near the City of Silk,
With the green grass of spring colouring the steps,
And birds chirping happily under the leaves.
...The third summons weighted him with affairs of state
And to two generations he gave his true heart,
But before he could conquer, he was dead;
And heroes have wept on their coats ever since.

183

七言律詩

杜甫

客至

舍南舍北皆春水， 但見群鷗日日來。
花徑不曾緣客掃， 蓬門今始為君開。
盤飧市遠無兼味， 樽酒家貧只舊醅。
肯与鄰翁相對飲， 隔篱呼取盡余杯。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Du Fu

A HEARTY WELCOME TO VICE-PREFECT CUI

North of me, south of me, spring is in flood,
Day after day I have seen only gulls....
My path is full of petals -- I have swept it for no others.
My thatch gate has been closed -- but opens now for you.
It's a long way to the market, I can offer you little --
Yet here in my cottage there is old wine for our cups.
Shall we summon my elderly neighbour to join us,
Call him through the fence, and pour the jar dry?

184

七言律詩

杜甫

野望

西山白雪三城戍， 南浦清江万里橋。
海內風塵諸弟隔， 天涯涕淚一身遙。
唯將遲暮供多病， 未有涓埃答圣朝。
跨馬出郊時极目， 不堪人事日蕭條。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Du Fu

A VIEW OF THE WILDERNESS

Snow is white on the westward mountains and on three fortified towns,
And waters in this southern lake flash on a long bridge.
But wind and dust from sea to sea bar me from my brothers;
And I cannot help crying, I am so far away.
I have nothing to expect now but the ills of old age.
I am of less use to my country than a grain of dust.
I ride out to the edge of town. I watch on the horizon,
Day after day, the chaos of the world.

185

七言律詩

杜甫

聞官軍收河南河北

劍外忽傳收薊北， 初聞涕淚滿衣裳。
卻看妻子愁何在？ 漫卷詩書喜欲狂。
白日放歌須縱酒， 青春作伴好還鄉。
即從巴峽穿巫峽， 便下襄陽向洛陽。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Du Fu

BOTH SIDES OF THE YELLOW RIVER
RECAPTURED BY THE IMPERIAL ARMY

News at this far western station! The north has been recaptured!
At first I cannot check the tears from pouring on my coat --
Where is my wife? Where are my sons?
Yet crazily sure of finding them, I pack my books and poems- -
And loud my song and deep my drink
On the green spring-day that starts me home,
Back from this mountain, past another mountain,
Up from the south, north again-to my own town!

186

七言律詩

杜甫

登高

風急天高猿嘯哀， 渚清沙白鳥飛回。
無邊落木蕭蕭下， 不盡長江滾滾來。
万里悲秋常作客， 百年多病獨登台。
艱難苦恨繁霜鬢， 潦倒新停濁酒杯。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Du Fu

A LONG CLIMB

In a sharp gale from the wide sky apes are whimpering,
Birds are flying homeward over the clear lake and white sand,
Leaves are dropping down like the spray of a waterfall,
While I watch the long river always rolling on.
I have come three thousand miles away. Sad now with autumn
And with my hundred years of woe, I climb this height alone.
Ill fortune has laid a bitter frost on my temples,
Heart-ache and weariness are a thick dust in my wine.

187

七言律詩

杜甫

登樓

花近高樓傷客心， 万方多難此登臨。
錦江春色來天地， 玉壘浮云變古今。
北极朝庭終不改， 西山寇盜莫相侵。
可怜后主還祠廟， 日暮聊為梁父吟。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Du Fu

FROM AN UPPER STORY

Flowers, as high as my window, hurt the heart of a wanderer
For I see, from this high vantage, sadness everywhere.
The Silken River, bright with spring, floats between earth and heaven
Like a line of cloud by the Jade Peak, between ancient days and now.
...Though the State is established for a while as firm as the North Star
And bandits dare not venture from the western hills,
Yet sorry in the twilight for the woes of a longvanished Emperor,
I am singing the song his Premier sang when still unestranged from the mountain.

188

七言律詩

杜甫

宿府

清秋幕府井梧寒， 獨宿江城蜡炬殘。
永夜角聲悲自語， 中天月色好誰看？
風塵荏苒音書絕， 關塞蕭條行陸難。
已忍伶俜十年事， 強移栖息一枝安。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Du Fu

STAYING AT THE GENERAL'S HEADQUARTERS

The autumn night is clear and cold in the lakka-trees of this courtyard.
I am lying forlorn in the river-town. I watch my guttering candle.
I hear the lonely notes of a bugle sounding through the dark.
The moon is in mid-heaven, but there's no one to share it with me.
My messengers are scattered by whirls of rain and sand.
City-gates are closed to a traveller; mountains are walls in my way --
Yet, I who have borne ten years of pitiable existence,
Find here a perch, a little branch, and am safe for this one night.

189

七言律詩

杜甫

閣夜

歲暮陰陽催短景， 天涯霜雪霽寒霄。
五更鼓角聲悲壯， 三峽星河影動搖。
野哭千家聞戰伐， 夷歌數處起漁樵。
臥龍躍馬終黃土， 人事音書漫寂寥。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Du Fu

NIGHT IN THE WATCH-TOWER

While winter daylight shortens in the elemental scale
And snow and frost whiten the cold-circling night,
Stark sounds the fifth-watch with a challenge of drum and bugle.
...The stars and the River of Heaven pulse over the three mountains;
I hear women in the distance, wailing after the battle;
I see barbarian fishermen and woodcutters in the dawn.
...Sleeping-Dragon, Plunging-Horse, are no generals now, they are dust --
Hush for a moment, O tumult of the world.

190

七言律詩

杜甫

詠怀古跡五首之一

支离東北風塵際， 漂泊西南天地間。
三峽樓台淹日月， 五溪衣服共云山。
羯胡事主終無賴， 詞客哀時且未還。
庾信平生最蕭瑟， 暮年詩賦動江關。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Du Fu

POETIC THOUGHTS ON ANCIENT SITES I

Forlorn in the northeast among wind and dust,
Drifting in the southwest between heaven and earth,
Lingering for days and months in towers and terraces at the Three Gorges,
Sharing clouds and mountains with the costumes of the Five Streams.
The barbarian serving the ruler in the end was unreliable.
The wandering poet lamenting the times had no chance to return.
Yu Xin throughout his life was most miserable,
In his waning years his poetry stirred the land of rivers and passes.

191

七言律詩

杜甫

詠怀古跡五首之二

搖落深知宋玉悲， 風流儒雅亦吾師。
悵望千秋一洒淚， 蕭條异代不同時。
江山故宅空文藻， 云雨荒台豈夢思。
最是楚宮俱泯滅， 舟人指點到今疑。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Du Fu

POETIC THOUGHTS ON ANCIENT SITES II

"Decay and decline": deep knowledge have I of Sung Yu's grief.
Romantic and refined, he too is my teacher.
Sadly looking across a thousand autumns, one shower of tears,
Melancholy in different epochs, not at the same time.
Among rivers and mountains his old abode -- empty his writings;
Deserted terrace of cloud and rain -- surely not just imagined in a dream?
Utterly the palaces of Chu are all destroyed and ruined,
The fishermen pointing them out today are unsure.

192

七言律詩

杜甫

詠怀古跡五首之三

群山万壑赴荊門， 生長明妃尚有村。
一去紫台連朔漠， 獨留青冢向黃昏。
畫圖省識春風面， 環佩空歸月下魂。
千載琵琶作胡語， 分明怨恨曲中論。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Du Fu

THOUGHTS OF OLD TIME III

Ten thousand ranges and valleys approach the Jing Gate
And the village in which the Lady of Light was born and bred.
She went out from the purple palace into the desertland;
She has now become a green grave in the yellow dusk.
Her face ! Can you picture a wind of the spring?
Her spirit by moonlight returns with a tinkling
Song of the Tartars on her jade guitar,
Telling her eternal sorrow.

193

七言律詩

杜甫

詠怀古跡五首之四

蜀主征吳幸三峽， 崩年亦在永安宮。
翠華想像空山里， 玉殿虛無野寺中。
古廟杉松巢水鶴， 歲時伏腊走村翁。
武侯祠屋常鄰近， 一体君臣祭祀同。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Du Fu

POETIC THOUGHTS ON ANCIENT SITES IV

The ruler of Shu had his eyes on Wu and progressed as far as the Three Gorges.
In the year of his demise, too, he was in the Palace of Eternal Peace.
The blue-green banners can be imagined on the empty mountain,
The jade palace is a void in the deserted temple.
In the pines of the ancient shrine aquatic cranes nest;
At summer and winter festivals the comers are village elders.
The Martial Marquis's memorial shrine is ever nearby;
In union, sovereign and minister share the sacrifices together.

194

七言律詩

杜甫

詠怀古跡五首之五

諸葛大名垂宇宙， 宗臣遺像肅清高。
三分割据紆籌策， 万古云霄一羽毛。
伯仲之間見伊呂， 指揮若定失蕭曹。
運移漢祚終難复， 志決身殲軍務勞。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Du Fu

THOUGHTS OF OLD TIME V

Zhuge's prestige transcends the earth;
There is only reverence for his face;
Yet his will, among the Three Kingdoms at war,
Was only as one feather against a flaming sky.
He was brother of men like Yi and Lu
And in time would have surpassed the greatest of all statesmen.
Though he knew there was no hope for the House of Han,
Yet he wielded his mind for it, yielded his life.

195

七言律詩

劉長卿

江州重別薛六柳八二員外

生涯豈料承优詔？ 世事空知學醉歌。
江上月明胡雁過， 淮南木落楚山多。
寄身且喜滄洲近， 顧影無如白發何！
今日龍鐘人共老， 愧君猶遣慎風波。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Liu Changquing

ON LEAVING GUIJIANG AGAIN TO XUE AND LIU

Dare I, at my age, accept my summons,
Knowing of the world's ways only wine and song?....
Over the moon-edged river come wildgeese from the Tartars;
And the thinner the leaves along the Huai, the wider the southern mountains....
I ought to be glad to take my old bones back to the capital,
But what am I good for in that world, with my few white hairs?....
As bent and decrepit as you are, I am ashamed to thank you,
When you caution me that I may encounter thunderbolts.

196

七言律詩

劉長卿

長沙過賈誼宅

三年謫宦此栖遲， 万古惟留楚客悲。
秋草獨尋人去后， 寒林空見日斜時。
漢文有道恩猶薄， 湘水無情吊豈知？
寂寂江山搖落處， 怜君何事到天涯？

Seven-character-regular-verse

Liu Changqing

ON PASSING JIA YI'S HOUSE IN CHANGSHA

Here, where you spent your three years' exile,
To be mourned in Chu ten thousand years,
Can I trace your footprint in the autumn grass --
Or only slanting sunlight through the bleak woods?
If even good Emperor Wen was cold-hearted,
Could you hope that the dull river Xiang would understand you,
These desolate waters, these taciturn mountains,
When you came, like me, so far away?

197

七言律詩

劉長卿

自夏口至鸚洲夕望岳陽寄源中丞

汀洲無浪复無煙， 楚客相思益渺然。
漢口夕陽斜渡鳥， 洞庭秋水遠連天。
孤城背岭寒吹角， 獨戍臨江夜泊船。
賈誼上書憂漢室， 長沙謫去古今怜。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Liu Changqing

AN EVENING VIEW OF THE CITY OF YOUZHOU AFTER
COMING FROM HANKOU TO PARROT ISLAND A POEM SENT
TO MY FRIEND GOVERNOR YUAN

No ripples in the river, no mist on the islands,
Yet the landscape is blurred toward my friend in Chu....
Birds in the slanting sun cross Hankou,
And the autumn sky mingles with Lake Dongting.
...From a bleak mountain wall the cold tone of a bugle
Reminds me, moored by a ruined fort,
That Jia Yi's loyal plea to the House of Han
Banned him to Changsha, to be an exile.

198

七言律詩

錢起

贈闕下裴舍人

二月黃鸝飛上林， 春城紫禁曉陰陰。
長樂鐘聲花外盡， 龍池柳色雨中深。
陽和不散窮途恨， 霄漢長怀捧日心。
獻賦十年猶未遇， 羞將白發對華簪。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Qian Qi

TO MY FRIEND AT THE CAPITAL SECRETARY PEI

Finches flash yellow through the Imperial Grove
Of the Forbidden City, pale with spring dawn;
Flowers muffle a bell in the Palace of Bliss
And rain has deepened the Dragon Lake willows;
But spring is no help to a man bewildered,
Who would be like a cloud upholding the Light of Heaven,
Yet whose poems, ten years refused, are shaming
These white hairs held by the petalled pin.

199

七言律詩

韋應物

寄李儋元錫

去年花里逢君別， 今日花開又一年。
世事茫茫難自料， 春愁黯黯獨成眠。
身多疾病思田里， 邑有流亡愧俸錢。
聞道欲來相問訊， 西樓望月几回圓。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Wei Yingwu

TO MY FRIENDS LI DAN AND YUANXI

We met last among flowers, among flowers we parted,
And here, a year later, there are flowers again;
But, with ways of the world too strange to foretell,
Spring only brings me grief and fatigue.
I am sick, and I think of my home in the country-
Ashamed to take pay while so many are idle.
...In my western tower, because of your promise,
I have watched the full moons come and go.

200

七言律詩

韓翃

同題仙游觀

仙台初見五城樓， 風物凄凄宿雨收。
山色遙連秦樹晚， 砧聲近報漢宮秋。
疏松影落空壇靜， 細草香閒小洞幽。
何用別尋方外去？ 人間亦自有丹丘。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Han Hong

INSCRIBED IN THE TEMPLE OF THE WANDERING GENIE

I face, high over this enchanted lodge, the Court of the Five Cities of Heaven,
And I see a countryside blue and still, after the long rain.
The distant peaks and trees of Qin merge into twilight,
And Had Palace washing-stones make their autumnal echoes.
Thin pine-shadows brush the outdoor pulpit,
And grasses blow their fragrance into my little cave.
...Who need be craving a world beyond this one?
Here, among men, are the Purple Hills

201

七言律詩

皇甫冉

春思

鶯啼燕語報新年， 馬邑龍堆路几千。
家住層城鄰漢苑， 心隨明月到胡天。
机中錦字論長恨， 樓上花枝笑獨眠。
為問天戎竇車騎， 何時返旆勒燕然。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Huangfu Ran

SPRING THOUGHTS

Finch-notes and swallow-notes tell the new year....
But so far are the Town of the Horse and the Dragon Mound
From this our house, from these walls and Han Gardens,
That the moon takes my heart to the Tartar sky.
I have woven in the frame endless words of my grieving....
Yet this petal-bough is smiling now on my lonely sleep.
Oh, ask General Dou when his flags will come home
And his triumph be carved on the rock of Yanran mountain!

202

七言律詩

盧綸

晚次鄂州

云開遠見漢陽城， 猶是孤帆一日程。
估客晝眠知浪靜， 舟人夜語覺潮生。
三湘愁鬢逢秋色， 万里歸心對月明。
舊業已隨征戰盡， 更堪江上鼓鼙聲。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Lu Lun

A NIGHT-MOORING AT WUCHANG

Far off in the clouds stand the walls of Hanyang,
Another day's journey for my lone sail....
Though a river-merchant ought to sleep in this calm weather,
I listen to the tide at night and voices of the boatmen.
...My thin hair grows wintry, like the triple Xiang streams,
Three thousand miles my heart goes, homesick with the moon;
But the war has left me nothing of my heritage --
And oh, the pang of hearing these drums along the river!

203

七言律詩

柳宗元

登柳州城樓寄漳汀封連四州刺史

城上高樓接大荒， 海天愁思正茫茫。
惊風亂颭芙蓉水， 密雨斜侵薜荔牆。
岭樹重遮千里目， 江流曲似九回腸。
共來百越文身地， 猶自音書滯一鄉。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Liu Zongyuan

FROM THE CITY-TOWER OF LIUZHOU
TO MY FOUR FELLOW-OFFICIALS AT ZHANG,
DING, FENG, AND LIAN DISTRICTS

At this lofty tower where the town ends, wilderness begins;
And our longing has as far to go as the ocean or the sky....
Hibiscus-flowers by the moat heave in a sudden wind,
And vines along the wall are whipped with slanting rain.
Nothing to see for three hundred miles but a blur of woods and mountain --
And the river's nine loops, twisting in our bowels....
This is where they have sent us, this land of tattooed people --
And not even letters, to keep us in touch with home.

204

七言律詩

劉禹錫

西塞山怀古

王浚樓船下益州， 金陵王气黯然收。
千尋鐵鎖沈江底， 一片降旛出石頭。
人世几回傷往事， 山形依舊枕寒流。
從今四海為家日， 故壘蕭蕭蘆荻秋。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Liu Yuxi

THOUGHTS OF OLD TIME AT WEST FORT MOUNTAIN

Since Wang Jun brought his towering ships down from Yizhou,
The royal ghost has pined in the city of Nanjing.
Ten thousand feet of iron chain were sunk here to the bottom --
And then came the flag of surrender on the Wall of Stone....
Cycles of change have moved into the past,
While still this mountain dignity has commanded the cold river;
And now comes the day of the Chinese world united,
And the old forts fill with ruin and with autumn reeds.

205

七言律詩

元稹

遣悲怀之一

謝公最小偏怜女， 自嫁黔婁百事乖。
顧我無衣搜藎篋， 泥他沽酒拔金釵。
野蔬充膳甘長藿， 落葉添薪仰古槐。
今日俸錢過十万， 与君營奠复營齋。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Yuan Zhen

AN ELEGY I

O youngest, best-loved daughter of Xie,
Who unluckily married this penniless scholar,
You patched my clothes from your own wicker basket,
And I coaxed off your hairpins of gold, to buy wine with;
For dinner we had to pick wild herbs --
And to use dry locust-leaves for our kindling.
...Today they are paying me a hundred thousand --
And all that I can bring to you is a temple sacrifice.

206

七言律詩

元稹

遣悲怀之二

昔日戲言身后事， 今朝都到眼前來。
衣裳已施行看盡， 針線猶存未忍開。
尚想舊情怜婢仆， 也曾因夢送錢財。
誠知此恨人人有， 貧賤夫妻百事哀。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Yuan Zhen

AN ElEGY II

We joked, long ago, about one of us dying,
But suddenly, before my eyes, you are gone.
Almost all your clothes have been given away;
Your needlework is sealed, I dare not look at it....
I continue your bounty to our men and our maids --
Sometimes, in a dream, I bring you gifts.
...This is a sorrow that all mankind must know --
But not as those know it who have been poor together.

207

七言律詩

元稹

遣悲怀之三

閒坐悲君亦自悲， 百年都是几多時？
鄧攸無子尋知命， 潘岳悼亡猶費詞。
同穴窅冥何所望？ 他生緣會更難期。
惟將終夜長開眼， 報答平生未展眉。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Yuan Zhen

AN ELEGY III

I sit here alone, mourning for us both.
How many years do I lack now of my threescore and ten?
There have been better men than I to whom heaven denied a son,
There was a poet better than I whose dead wife could not hear him.
What have I to hope for in the darkness of our tomb?
You and I had little faith in a meeting after death-
Yet my open eyes can see all night
That lifelong trouble of your brow.

208

七言律詩

白居易

自河南經亂，關內阻饑，兄弟离散，各在一處。因望月有感，聊書所怀，寄上浮梁大兄，于潛七兄，烏江十五兄，兼示符离及下邽弟妹。

時難年荒世業空， 弟兄羈旅各西東。
田園寥落干戈后， 骨肉流离道路中。
吊影分為千里雁， 辭根散作九秋蓬。
共看明月應垂淚， 一夜鄉心五處同。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Bai Juyi

TO MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS ADRIFT
IN TROUBLED TIMES THIS POEM OF THE MOON

Since the disorders in Henan and the famine in Guannei, my brothers and sisters have been scattered. Looking at the moon, I express my thoughts in this poem, which I send to my eldest brother at Fuliang, my seventh brother at Yuqian, My fifteen brother at Wujiang and my younger brothers and sisters at Fuli and Xiagui.

My heritage lost through disorder and famine,
My brothers and sisters flung eastward and westward,
My fields and gardens wrecked by the war,
My own flesh and blood become scum of the street,
I moan to my shadow like a lone-wandering wildgoose,
I am torn from my root like a water-plant in autumn:
I gaze at the moon, and my tears run down
For hearts, in five places, all sick with one wish.

209

七言律詩

李商隱

錦瑟

錦瑟無端五十弦， 一弦一柱思華年。
庄生曉夢迷蝴蝶， 望帝春心托杜鵑。
滄海月明珠有淚， 藍田日暖玉生煙。
此情可待成追憶， 只是當時已惘然。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Li Shangyin

THE INLAID HARP

I wonder why my inlaid harp has fifty strings,
Each with its flower-like fret an interval of youth.
...The sage Chuangzi is day-dreaming, bewitched by butterflies,
The spring-heart of Emperor Wang is crying in a cuckoo,
Mermen weep their pearly tears down a moon-green sea,
Blue fields are breathing their jade to the sun....
And a moment that ought to have lasted for ever
Has come and gone before I knew.

210

七言律詩

李商隱

無題

昨夜星辰昨夜風， 畫樓西畔桂堂東。
身無彩鳳雙飛翼， 心有靈犀一點通。
隔座送鉤春酒暖， 分曹射覆蜡燈紅。
嗟余听鼓應官去， 走馬蘭台類轉蓬。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Li Shangyin

TO ONE UNNAMED

The stars of last night and the wind of last night
Are west of the Painted Chamber and east of Cinnamon Hall.
...Though I have for my body no wings like those of the bright- coloured phoenix,
Yet I feel the harmonious heart-beat of the Sacred Unicorn.
Across the spring-wine, while it warms me, I prompt you how to bet
Where, group by group, we are throwing dice in the light of a crimson lamp;
Till the rolling of a drum, alas, calls me to my duties
And I mount my horse and ride away, like a water-plant cut adrift.

211

七言律詩

李商隱

隋宮

紫泉宮殿鎖煙霞， 欲取蕪城作帝家。
玉璽不緣歸日角， 錦帆應是到天涯。
于今腐草無螢火， 終古垂楊有暮鴉。
地下若逢陳后主， 豈宜重問后庭花？

Seven-character-regular-verse

Li Shangyin

THE PALACE OF THE SUI EMPEROR

His Palace of Purple Spring has been taken by mist and cloud,
As he would have taken all Yangzhou to be his private domain
But for the seal of imperial jade being seized by the first Tang Emperor,
He would have bounded with his silken sails the limits of the world.
Fire-flies are gone now, have left the weathered grasses,
But still among the weeping-willows crows perch at twilight.
...If he meets, there underground, the Later Chen Emperor,
Do you think that they will mention a Song of Courtyard Flowers?

212

七言律詩

李商隱

無題之一

來是空言去絕蹤， 月斜樓上五更鐘。
夢為遠別啼難喚， 書被催成墨未濃。
蜡照半籠金翡翠， 麝熏微度繡芙蓉。
劉郎已恨蓬山遠， 更隔蓬山一万重。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Li Shangyin

TO ONE UNNAMED I

You said you would come, but you did not, and you left me with no other trace
Than the moonlight on your tower at the fifth-watch bell.
I cry for you forever gone, I cannot waken yet,
I try to read your hurried note, I find the ink too pale.
...Blue burns your candle in its kingfisher-feather lantern
And a sweet breath steals from your hibiscus-broidered curtain.
But far beyond my reach is the Enchanted Mountain,
And you are on the other side, ten thousand peaks away.

213

七言律詩

李商隱

無題之二

颯颯東風細雨來， 芙蓉塘外有輕雷。
金蟾嚙璅燒香入， 玉虎牽絲汲井回。
賈氏窺帘韓掾少， 宓妃留枕魏王才。
春心莫共花爭發， 一寸想思一寸灰。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Li Shangyin

TO ONE UNNAMED II

A misty rain comes blowing with a wind from the east,
And wheels faintly thunder beyond Hibiscus Pool.
...Round the golden-toad lock, incense is creeping;
The jade tiger tells, on its cord, of water being drawn
A great lady once, from behind a screen, favoured a poor youth;
A fairy queen brought a bridal mat once for the ease of a prince and then vanished.
...Must human hearts blossom in spring, like all other flowers?
And of even this bright flame of love, shall there be only ashes?

214

七言律詩

李商隱

籌筆驛

猿鳥猶疑畏簡書， 風云常為護儲胥。
徒令上將揮神筆， 終見降王走傳車。
管樂有才原不忝， 關張無命欲何如？
他年錦里經祠廟， 梁父吟成恨有余。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Li Shangyin

IN THE CAMP OF THE SKETCHING BRUSH

Monkeys and birds are still alert for your orders
And winds and clouds eager to shield your fortress.
...You were master of the brush, and a sagacious general,
But your Emperor, defeated, rode the prison-cart.
You were abler than even the greatest Zhou statesmen,
Yet less fortunate than the two Shu generals who were killed in action.
And, though at your birth-place a temple has been built to you,
You never finished singing your Song of the Holy Mountain

215

七言律詩

李商隱

無題之三

相見時難別亦難， 東風無力百花殘。
春蚕到死絲方盡， 蜡炬成灰淚始乾。
曉鏡但愁云鬢改， 夜吟應覺月光寒。
蓬萊此去無多路， 青鳥殷勤為探看。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Li Shangyin

TO ONE UNNAMED III

Time was long before I met her, but is longer since we parted,
And the east wind has arisen and a hundred flowers are gone,
And the silk-worms of spring will weave until they die
And every night the candles will weep their wicks away.
Mornings in her mirror she sees her hair-cloud changing,
Yet she dares the chill of moonlight with her evening song.
...It is not so very far to her Enchanted Mountain
O blue-birds, be listening!-Bring me what she says!

216

七言律詩

李商隱

春雨

悵臥新春白袷衣， 白門寥落意多違。
紅樓隔雨相望冷， 珠箔飄燈獨自歸。
遠路應悲春晼晚， 殘宵猶得夢依稀。
玉璫緘札何由達， 万里云羅一雁飛。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Li Shangyin

SPRING RAIN

I am lying in a white-lined coat while the spring approaches,
But am thinking only of the White Gate City where I cannot be.
...There are two red chambers fronting the cold, hidden by the rain,
And a lantern on a pearl screen swaying my lone heart homeward.
...The long road ahead will be full of new hardship,
With, late in the nights, brief intervals of dream.
Oh, to send you this message, this pair of jade earrings! --
I watch a lonely wildgoose in three thousand miles of cloud.

217

七言律詩

李商隱

無題之四

鳳尾香羅薄几重， 碧文圓頂夜深縫。
扇裁月魄羞難掩， 車走雷聲語未通。
曾是寂寥金燼暗， 斷無消息石榴紅。
斑騅只系垂楊岸， 何處西南任好風？

Seven-character-regular-verse

Li Shangyin

TO ONE UNNAMED IV

A faint phoenix-tail gauze, fragrant and doubled,
Lines your green canopy, closed for the night....
Will your shy face peer round a moon-shaped fan,
And your voice be heard hushing the rattle of my carriage?
It is quiet and quiet where your gold lamp dies,
How far can a pomegranate-blossom whisper?
...I will tether my horse to a river willow
And wait for the will of the southwest wind.

218

七言律詩

李商隱

無題之五

重帷深下莫愁堂， 臥后清宵細細長。
神女生涯原是夢， 小姑居處本無郎。
風波不信菱枝弱， 月露誰教桂葉香。
直道相思了無益， 未妨惆悵是清狂。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Li Shangyin

TO ONE UNNAMED V

There are many curtains in your care-free house,
Where rapture lasts the whole night long.
...What are the lives of angels but dreams
If they take no lovers into their rooms?
...Storms are ravishing the nut-horns,
Moon- dew sweetening cinnamon-leaves
I know well enough naught can come of this union,
Yet how it serves to ease my heart!

219

七言律詩

溫庭筠

利洲南渡

澹然空水對斜暉， 曲島蒼茫接翠微。
波上馬嘶看棹去， 柳邊人歇待船歸。
數叢沙草群鷗散， 万頃江田一鷺飛。
誰解乘舟尋范蠡？ 五湖煙水獨忘机。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Wen Tingyun

NEAR THE LIZHOU FERRY

The sun has set in the water's clear void,
And little blue islands are one with the sky.
On the bank a horse neighs. A boat goes by.
People gather at a willow- clump and wait for the ferry.
Down by the sand-bushes sea-gulls are circling,
Over the wide river-lands flies an egret.
...Can you guess why I sail, like an ancient wise lover,
Through the misty Five Lakes, forgetting words?

220

七言律詩

溫庭筠

蘇武廟

蘇武魂銷漢使前， 古祠高樹兩茫然。
云邊雁斷胡天月， 隴上羊歸塞草煙。
回日樓台非甲帳， 去時冠劍是丁年。
茂陵不見封侯印， 空向秋波哭逝川。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Wen Tingyun

THE TEMPLE OF SU WU

Though our envoy, Su Wu, is gone, body and soul,
This temple survives, these trees endure....
Wildgeese through the clouds are still calling to the moon there
And hill-sheep unshepherded graze along the border.
...Returning, he found his country changed
Since with youthful cap and sword he had left it.
His bitter adventures had won him no title....
Autumn-waves endlessly sob in the river.

221

七言律詩

薛逢

宮詞

十二樓中盡曉妝， 望仙樓上望君王。
鎖銜金獸連環冷， 水滴銅龍晝漏長。
云髻罷梳還對鏡， 羅衣欲換更添香。
遙窺正殿帘開處， 袍褲宮人掃御床。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Xue Feng

A PALACE POEM

In twelve chambers the ladies, decked for the day,
Peer afar for their lord from their Fairy-View Lodge;
The golden toad guards the lock on the door-chain,
And the bronze-dragon water-clock drips through the morning
Till one of them, tilting a mirror, combs her cloud of hair
And chooses new scent and a change of silk raiment;
For she sees, between screen-panels, deep in the palace,
Eunuchs in court-dress preparing a bed.

222

七言律詩

秦韜玉

貧女

蓬門未識綺羅香， 擬托良媒益自傷。
誰愛風流高格調， 共怜時世儉梳妝。
敢將十指夸針巧， 不把雙眉斗畫長。
苦恨年年壓金線， 為他人作嫁衣裳。

Seven-character-regular-verse

Qin Taoyu

A POOR GIRL

Living under a thatch roof, never wearing fragrant silk,
She longs to arrange a marriage, but how could she dare?
Who would know her simple face the loveliest of them all
When we choose for worldliness, not for worth?
Her fingers embroider beyond compare,
But she cannot vie with painted brows;
And year after year she has sewn gold thread
On bridal robes for other girls.