Written by
Li Po |
There was wine in a cup of gold
and a girl of fifteen from Wu,
her eyebrows painted dark
and with slippers of red brocade.
If her conversation was poor,
how beautifully she could sing!
Together we dined and drank
until she settled in my arms.
Behind her curtains
embroidered with lotuses,
how could I refuse
the temptation of her advances?
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Written by
Du Fu |
Jade dew wither wound maple forest Wu mountain wu gorge air desolate and dreary River on wave meet sky surge Pass on wind cloud join earth dark Shrub chrysanthemum two open it day tear Single boat one link hometown heart Cold clothes place place urge knife measure Baidicheng high urgent evening flat stone Jade dew withers and wounds the groves of maple trees, On Wu mountain, in Wu gorge, the air is dull and drear. On the river surging waves rise to meet the sky, Above the pass wind and cloud join the earth with darkness. Chrysanthemum bushes open twice, weeping for their days, A lonely boat, a single line, my heart is full of home. Winter clothes everywhere are urgently cut and measured, Baidicheng above, the evening's driven by beating on stones.
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Written by
Li Po |
The seafarers tell of the Eastern Isle of Bliss,
It is lost in a wilderness of misty sea waves.
But the Sky-land of the south, the Yueh-landers say,
May be seen through cracks of the glimmering cloud.
This land of the sky stretches across the leagues of heaven;
It rises above the Five Mountains and towers over the Scarlet Castle,
While, as if staggering before it, the Tien-tai Peak
Of forty-eight thousand feet leans toward the southeast.
So, longing to dream of the southlands of Wu and Yueh,
I flew across the Mirror Lake one night under the moon.
The moon in the lake followed my flight,
Followed me to the town of Yen-chi.
Here still stands the mansion of Prince Hsieh.
I saw the green waters curl and heard the monkeys' shrill cries.
I climbed, putting on the clogs of the prince,
Skyward on a ladder of clouds,
And half-way up from the sky-wall I saw the morning sun,
And heard the heaven's cock crowing in the mid-air.
Now among a thousand precipices my way wound round and round;
Flowers choked the path; I leaned against a rock; I swooned.
Roaring bears and howling dragons roused me—
Oh, the clamorous waters of the rapids!
I trembled in the deep forest, and shuddered at the overhanging crags,
one heaped upon another.
Clouds on clouds gathered above, threatening rain;
The waters gushed below, breaking into mist.
A peal of blasting thunder!
The mountains crumbled.
The stone gate of the hollow heaven
Opened wide, revealing
A vasty realm of azure without bottom,
Sun and moon shining together on gold and silver palaces.
Clad in rainbow and riding on the wind,
The ladies of the air descended like flower, flakes;
The faery lords trooping in, they were thick as hemp-stalks in the fields.
Phoenix birds circled their cars, and panthers played upon harps.
Bewilderment filled me, and terror seized on my heart.
I lifted myself in amazement, and alas!
I woke and found my bed and pillow—
Gone was the radiant world of gossamer.
So with all pleasures of life.
All things pass with the east-flowing water.
I leave you and go—when shall I return?
Let the white roe feed at will among the green crags,
Let me ride and visit the lovely mountains!
How can I stoop obsequiously and serve the mighty ones!
It stifles my soul.
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Written by
Du Fu |
Two (measure word) golden orioles sing green willow One row white egrets on blue sky Window contain west mountain thousand autumn snow Door moor east Wu ten thousand li boat Two golden orioles sing in the green willows, A row of white egrets against the blue sky. The window frames the western hills' snow of a thousand autumns, At the door is moored, from eastern Wu, a boat of ten thousand li.
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Written by
Li Po |
Whence these twelve peaks of Wu-shan!
Have they flown into the gorgeous screen
From heaven's one corner?
Ah, those lonely pines murmuring in the wind!
Those palaces of Yang-tai, hovering yonder—
Oh, the melancholy of it!—
Where the jeweled couch of the king
With brocade covers is desolate,—
His elfin maid voluptuously fair
Still haunting them in vain!
Here a few feet
Seem a thousand miles.
The craggy walls glisten blue and red,
A piece of dazzling embroidery.
How green those distant trees are
Round the river strait of Ching-men!
And those ships——they go on,
Floating on the waters of Pa.
The water sings over the rocks
Between countless hills
Of shining mist and lustrous grass.
How many years since these valley flowers bloomed
To smile in the sun ?
And that man traveling on the river,
Hears he not for ages the monkeys screaming?
Whoever looks on this,
Loses himself in eternity;
And entering the sacred mountains of Sung,
He will dream among the resplendent clouds.
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Written by
Li Po |
Phoenixes that play here once, so that the place was named for them,
Have abandoned it now to this desolated river;
The paths of Wu Palace are crooked with weeds;
The garments of Chin are ancient dust.
...Like this green horizon halving the Three Peaks,
Like this Island of White Egrets dividing the river,
A cloud has risen between the Light of Heaven and me,
To hide his city from my melancholy heart.
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Written by
Wang Wei |
Fishing boat pursue water love hill spring
Both banks peach blossom arrive ancient river crossing
Travel look red tree not know far
Travel furthest blue stream not see people
Mountain mouth stealthy move begin cave profound
Mountain open spacious view spin flat land
Far see one place accumulate cloud tree
Nearby join 1000 homes scattered flower bamboo
Firewood person first express Han surname given name
Reside person not change Qin clothing clothing
Reside person together live Wu Ling source
Still from outside outside build field orchard
Moon bright pine below room pen quiet
Sun through cloud middle chicken dog noisy
Surprise hear common visitor contend arrive gather
Compete lead back home ask all town
At brightness alley alley sweep blossom begin
Approach dusk fisher woodman via water return
Beginning reason evade earth leave person among
Change ask god immortal satisfy not return
Gorge inside who know be human affairs
World middle far gaze sky cloud hill
Not doubt magic place hard hear see
Dust heart not exhaust think country country
Beyond hole not decide away hill water
Leave home eventually plan far travel spread
Self say pass through old not lost
Who know peak gully now arrive change
Now only mark entrance hill deep
Blue stream how many times reach cloud forest
Spring come all over be peach blossom water
Not know immortal source what place search
A fisher's boat chased the water into the coveted hills,
Both banks were covered in peach blossom at the ancient river crossing.
He knew not how far he sailed, gazing at the reddened trees,
He travelled to the end of the blue stream, seeing no man on the way.
Then finding a crack in the hillside, he squeezed through the deepest of caves,
And beyond the mountain a vista opened of flat land all about!
In the distance he saw clouds and trees gathered together,
Nearby amongst a thousand homes flowers and bamboo were scattered.
A wood-gatherer was the first to speak a Han-era name,
The inhabitants' dress was unchanged since the time of Qin.
The people lived together on uplands above Wu Ling river,
Apart from the outside world they laid their fields and plantations.
Below the pines and the bright moon, all was quiet in the houses,
When the sun started to shine through the clouds, the chickens and dogs gave voice.
Startled to find a stranger amongst them, the people jostled around,
They competed to invite him in and ask about his home.
As brightness came, the lanes had all been swept of blossom,
By dusk, along the water the fishers and woodsmen returned.
To escape the troubled world they had first left men's society,
They live as if become immortals, no reason now to return.
In that valley they knew nothing of the way we live outside,
From within our world we gaze afar at empty clouds and hills.
Who would not doubt that magic place so hard to find,
The fisher's worldly heart could not stop thinking of his home.
He left that land, but its hills and rivers never left his heart,
Eventually he again set out, and planned to journey back.
By memory, he passed along the way he'd taken before,
Who could know the hills and gullies had now completely changed?
Now he faced only the great mountain where he remembered the entrance,
Each time he followed the clear stream, he found only cloud and forest.
Spring comes, and all again is peach blossom and water,
No-one knows how to reach that immortal place.
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Written by
Du Fu |
Former hear Dongting water Now climb Yueyang tower Wu Chu east south separate Heaven earth day night float Family friend without one word Old sick have single boat War horse pass mountain north Lean rail tears flow Of old I heard of the waters of Dongting lake, Now I've climbed to the top of Yueyang tower. Here Wu and Chu are split to east and south, Here heaven and earth are floating day and night. From family and friends comes not a single word, Old and sick, I have one solitary boat. War horses are riding north of the mountain pass, I lean on the railing as tears flow down.
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Written by
Du Fu |
Kong ming temple before be old cypress Branch like green bronze root like stone Frost bark slippery rain 40 spans Black colour meet sky 2000 feet Emperor and minister already with time end meet Tree tree still be man devotion Cloud come air meet Wu gorge long Moon out cold with snow mountain white Remember old road wind brocade pavilion east Former master war lord together hidden temple Towering branch trunk open country ancient Secluded red black door window empty Spread wide coil entrenched although get earth Dark far lofty many violent wind Give support naturally divine strength Upright reason creator skill Big hall if upset want rafter beam 10,000 oxen turn head mountain weight Not reveal hidden meaning world already amazed Without evade cut down who can send Bitter heart how avoid contain mole crickets ants Fragrant leaves all through reside phoenix Aim scholar secluded person not resent sigh Always timber big hard to use Before Kongming's shrine stands an ancient cypress, Its branches are like green bronze, its roots just like stone. The frosted bark, slippery with rain, is forty spans around, Its blackness blends into the sky two thousand feet above. Master and servant have each already reached their time's end, The tree, however, still remains, receiving men's devotion. Clouds come and bring the air of Wuxia gorge's vastness, The moon comes out, along with the cold of snowy mountain whiteness. I think back to the winding road, east of Brocade Pavilion, Where the military master and his lord of old share a hidden temple. Towering that trunk, those branches, on the ancient plain, Hidden paintings, red and black, doors and windows empty. Spreading wide, coiling down, though it holds the earth, In the dim and distant heights are many violent winds. That which gives it its support must be heaven's strength, The reason for its uprightness, the creator's skill. If a great hall should teeter, wanting rafters and beams, Ten thousand oxen would turn their heads towards its mountain's weight. Its potential unrevealed, the world's already amazed, Nothing would stop it being felled, but what man could handle it? Its bitter heart cannot avoid the entry of the ants, Its fragrant leaves have always given shelter to the phoenix. Ambitious scholars, reclusive hermits- neither needs to sigh; Always it's the greatest timber that's hardest to put to use.
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Written by
Li Bai |
A wind, bringing willow-cotton, sweetens the shop,
And a girl from Wu, pouring wine, urges me to share it.
With my comrades of the city who are here to see me off;
And as each of them drains his cup, I say to him in parting,
Oh, go and ask this river running to the east
If it can travel farther than a friend's love!
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