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Sunday, January 6, 2013

Tang Shi San Bai Shou - 300 Tang Poems


Chinese landscape, Ch’iu Ying Tang Dynasty 1530-1550


In Chinese literature, the Tang period (618-907) is considered the golden age of Chinese poetry. Tang Shi San Bai Shou  300 Tang Poems is a compilation of poems from this period made around 1763 by Heng-tang-tui-shi [Sun Zhu] of the Qing dynasty.
005
五言古詩
李白
下終南山過斛斯山人宿置酒

暮從碧山下, 山月隨人歸;
卻顧所來徑, 蒼蒼橫翠微。
相攜及田家, 童稚開荊扉;
綠竹入幽徑, 青蘿拂行衣。
歡言得所憩, 美酒聊共揮;
長歌吟松風, 曲盡河星稀。
我醉君復樂, 陶然共忘機。

 Five-character-ancient-verse
Li Bai
DOWN ZHONGNAN MOUNTAIN
TO THE KIND PILLOW AND BOWL OF HUSI

Down the blue mountain in the evening,
Moonlight was my homeward escort.
Looking back, I saw my path
Lie in levels of deep shadow....
I was passing the farm-house of a friend,
When his children called from a gate of thorn
And led me twining through jade bamboos
Where green vines caught and held my clothes.
And I was glad of a chance to rest
And glad of a chance to drink with my friend....
We sang to the tune of the wind in the pines;
And we finished our songs as the stars went down,
When, I being drunk and my friend more than happy,
Between us we forgot the world.
010
五言古詩
杜甫
佳人

絕代有佳人, 幽居在空谷;
自云良家子, 零落依草木。
關中昔喪亂, 兄弟遭殺戮;
官高何足論? 不得收骨肉。
世情惡衰歇, 萬事隨轉燭。
夫婿輕薄兒, 新人美如玉。
合昏尚知時, 鴛鴦不獨宿;
但見新人笑, 那聞舊人哭?
在山泉水清, 出山泉水濁。
侍婢賣珠迴, 牽蘿補茅屋。
摘花不插髮, 采柏動盈掬。
天寒翠袖薄, 日暮倚修竹。

 Five-character-ancient-verse
Du Fu
ALONE IN HER BEAUTY
Who is lovelier than she?
Yet she lives alone in an empty valley.
She tells me she came from a good family
Which is humbled now into the dust.
...When trouble arose in the Kuan district,
Her brothers and close kin were killed.
What use were their high offices,
Not even shielding their own lives? --
The world has but scorn for adversity;
Hope goes out, like the light of a candle.
Her husband, with a vagrant heart,
Seeks a new face like a new piece of jade;
And when morning-glories furl at night
And mandarin-ducks lie side by side,
All he can see is the smile of the new love,
While the old love weeps unheard.
The brook was pure in its mountain source,
But away from the mountain its waters darken.
...Waiting for her maid to come from selling pearls
For straw to cover the roof again,
She picks a few flowers, no longer for her hair,
And lets pine-needles fall through her fingers,
And, forgetting her thin silk sleeve and the cold,
She leans in the sunset by a tall bamboo.
043
樂府
李白
長干行

妾髮初覆額, 折花門前劇;
郎騎竹馬來, 遶床弄青梅。
同居長干里, 兩小無嫌猜。
十四為君婦, 羞顏未嘗開;
低頭向暗壁, 千喚不一回,
十五始展眉, 願同塵與灰;
常存抱柱信, 豈上望夫臺?
十六君遠行, 瞿塘灩澦堆;
五月不可觸, 猿天上哀。
門前遲行跡, 一一生綠苔;
苔深不能掃, 落葉秋風早。
八月蝴蝶, 雙飛西園草。
感此傷妾心, 坐愁紅顏老。
早晚下三巴, 預將書報家;
相迎不道遠, 直至長風沙。

 Folk-song-styled-verse
Li Bai
A SONG OF CHANGGAN
My hair had hardly covered my forehead.
I was picking flowers, paying by my door,
When you, my lover, on a bamboo horse,
Came trotting in circles and throwing green plums.
We lived near together on a lane in Ch'ang-kan,
Both of us young and happy-hearted.
...At fourteen I became your wife,
So bashful that I dared not smile,
And I lowered my head toward a dark corner
And would not turn to your thousand calls;
But at fifteen I straightened my brows and laughed,
Learning that no dust could ever seal our love,
That even unto death I would await you by my post
And would never lose heart in the tower of silent watching.
...Then when I was sixteen, you left on a long journey
Through the Gorges of Ch'u-t'ang, of rock and whirling water.
And then came the Fifth-month, more than I could bear,
And I tried to hear the monkeys in your lofty far-off sky.
Your footprints by our door, where I had watched you go,
Were hidden, every one of them, under green moss,
Hidden under moss too deep to sweep away.
And the first autumn wind added fallen leaves.
And now, in the Eighth-month, yellowing butterflies
Hover, two by two, in our west-garden grasses
And, because of all this, my heart is breaking
And I fear for my bright cheeks, lest they fade.
...Oh, at last, when you return through the three Pa districts,
Send me a message home ahead!
And I will come and meet you and will never mind the distance,
All the way to Chang-feng Sha.
046
七言古詩
陳子昂
登幽州臺歌

前不見古人, 後不見來者;
念天地之悠悠, 獨愴然而涕下。
 Seven-character-ancient-verse
Chen Ziang
ON A GATE-TOWER AT YUZHOU
Where, before me, are the ages that have gone?
And where, behind me, are the coming generations?
I think of heaven and earth, without limit, without end,
And I am all alone and my tears fall down.

 060
七言古詩
杜甫
韋諷錄事宅觀曹將軍畫馬圖

國初以來畫鞍馬, 神妙獨數江都王。
將軍得名三十載, 人間又見真乘黃。
曾貌先帝照夜白, 龍池十日飛霹靂,
內府殷紅瑪瑙盤, 婕妤傳詔才人索。
盤賜將軍拜舞歸, 輕紈細綺相追飛;
貴戚權門得筆跡, 始覺屏障生光輝。
昔日太宗拳毛騧, 近時郭家獅子花。
今之新圖有二馬, 復令識者久歎嗟,
此皆騎戰一敵萬, 縞素漠漠開風沙。
其餘七匹亦殊絕, 迥若寒空雜煙雪;
霜蹄蹴踏長楸間, 馬官廝養森成列。
可憐九馬爭神駿, 顧視清高氣深穩。
借問苦心愛者誰? 後有韋諷前支
憶昔巡幸新豐宮, 翠花拂天來向東;
騰驤磊落三萬匹, 皆與此圖筋骨同。
自從獻寶朝河宗, 無復射蛟江水中。
君不見, 金粟堆前松柏裡,
龍媒去盡鳥呼風。
Seven-character-ancient-verse
Du Fu
A DRAWING OF A HORSE BY GENERAL CAO
AT SECRETARY WEI FENG'S HOUSE

Throughout this dynasty no one had painted horses
Like the master-spirit, Prince Jiangdu --
And then to General Cao through his thirty years of fame
The world's gaze turned, for royal steeds.
He painted the late Emperor's luminous white horse.
For ten days the thunder flew over Dragon Lake,
And a pink-agate plate was sent him from the palace-
The talk of the court-ladies, the marvel of all eyes.
The General danced, receiving it in his honoured home
After this rare gift, followed rapidly fine silks
From many of the nobles, requesting that his art
Lend a new lustre to their screens.
...First came the curly-maned horse of Emperor Taizong,
Then, for the Guos, a lion-spotted horse....
But now in this painting I see two horses,
A sobering sight for whosoever knew them.
They are war- horses. Either could face ten thousand.
They make the white silk stretch away into a vast desert.
And the seven others with them are almost as noble
Mist and snow are moving across a cold sky,
And hoofs are cleaving snow-drifts under great trees-
With here a group of officers and there a group of servants.
See how these nine horses all vie with one another-
The high clear glance, the deep firm breath.
...Who understands distinction? Who really cares for art?
You, Wei Feng, have followed Cao; Zhidun preceded him.
...I remember when the late Emperor came toward his Summer Palace,
The procession, in green-feathered rows, swept from the eastern sky --
Thirty thousand horses, prancing, galloping,
Fashioned, every one of them, like the horses in this picture....
But now the Imperial Ghost receives secret jade from the River God,
For the Emperor hunts crocodiles no longer by the streams.
Where you see his Great Gold Tomb, you may hear among the pines
A bird grieving in the wind that the Emperor's horses are gone.

 071
七言古詩
白居易
長恨歌

漢皇重色思傾國, 御宇多年求不得。
楊家有女初長成, 養在深閨人未識。
天生麗質難自棄, 一朝選在君王側;
回眸一笑百媚生, 六宮粉黛無顏色。
春寒賜浴華清池, 溫泉水滑洗凝脂;
侍兒扶起嬌無力, 始是新承恩澤時。
雲鬢花顏金步搖, 芙蓉帳暖度春宵;
春宵苦短日高起, 從此君王不早朝。
承歡侍宴無閑暇, 春從春遊夜專夜。
後宮佳麗三千人, 三千寵愛在一身。
金星妝成嬌侍夜, 玉樓宴罷醉和春。
姊妹弟兄皆列士, 可憐光彩生門戶;
遂令天下父母心, 不重生男重生女。
驪宮高處入青雲, 仙樂風飄處處聞;
緩歌慢舞凝絲竹, 盡日君王看不足。
漁陽鼙鼓動地來, 驚破霓裳羽衣曲。
九重城闕煙塵生, 千乘萬騎西南行。
翠華搖搖行復止, 西出都門百餘里。
六軍不發無奈何? 宛轉蛾眉馬前死。
花鈿委地無人收, 翠翹金雀玉搔頭。
君王掩面救不得, 回看血淚相和流。
黃埃散漫風蕭索, 雲棧縈紆登劍閣。
峨嵋山下少人行, 旌旗無光日色薄。
蜀江水碧蜀山青, 聖主朝朝暮暮情。
行宮見月傷心色, 夜雨聞鈴腸斷聲。
天旋地轉迴龍馭, 到此躊躇不能去。
馬嵬坡下泥土中, 不見玉顏空死處。
君臣相顧盡霑衣, 東望都門信馬歸。
歸來池苑皆依舊, 太液芙蓉未央柳;
芙蓉如面柳如眉, 對此如何不淚垂?
春風桃李花開日, 秋雨梧桐葉落時。
西宮南內多秋草, 落葉滿階紅不掃。
梨園子弟白髮新, 椒房阿監青娥老。
夕殿螢飛思悄然, 孤燈挑盡未成眠。
遲遲鐘鼓初長夜, 耿耿星河欲曙天。
鴛鴦瓦冷霜華重, 翡翠衾寒誰與共?
悠悠生死別經年, 魂魄不曾來入夢。
臨邛道士鴻都客, 能以精誠致魂魄;
為感君王輾轉思, 遂教方士殷勤覓。
排空馭氣奔如電, 升天入地求之遍;
上窮碧落下黃泉, 兩處茫茫皆不見。
忽聞海上有仙山, 山在虛無縹緲間;
樓閣玲瓏五雲起, 其中綽約多仙子。
中有一人字太真, 雪膚花貌參差是。
金闕西廂叩玉扃, 轉教小玉報雙成。
聞道漢家天子使, 九華帳裡夢魂驚。
攬衣推枕起徘徊, 珠箔銀屏迤邐開,
雲鬢半偏新睡覺, 花冠不整下堂來。
風吹仙袂飄飄舉, 猶似霓裳羽衣舞;
玉容寂寞淚闌干, 梨花一枝春帶雨。
含情凝睇謝君王, 一別音容兩渺茫。
昭陽殿裡恩愛絕, 蓬萊宮中日月長。
回頭下望人寰處, 不見長安見塵霧。
唯將舊物表深情, 鈿合金釵寄將去。
釵留一股合一扇, 釵擘黃金合分鈿;
但教心似金鈿堅, 天上人間會相見。
臨別殷勤重寄詞, 詞中有誓兩心知。
七月七日長生殿, 夜半無人私語時。
在天願作比翼鳥, 在地願為連理枝。
天長地久有時盡, 此恨綿綿無絕期。
Seven-character-ancient-verse
Bai Juyi
A SONG OF UNENDING SORROW
China's Emperor, craving beauty that might shake an empire,
Was on the throne for many years, searching, never finding,
Till a little child of the Yang clan, hardly even grown,
Bred in an inner chamber, with no one knowing her,
But with graces granted by heaven and not to be concealed,
At last one day was chosen for the imperial household.
If she but turned her head and smiled, there were cast a hundred spells,
And the powder and paint of the Six Palaces faded into nothing.
...It was early spring. They bathed her in the FlowerPure Pool,
Which warmed and smoothed the creamy-tinted crystal of her skin,
And, because of her languor, a maid was lifting her
When first the Emperor noticed her and chose her for his bride.
The cloud of her hair, petal of her cheek, gold ripples of her crown when she moved,
Were sheltered on spring evenings by warm hibiscus curtains;
But nights of spring were short and the sun arose too soon,
And the Emperor, from that time forth, forsook his early hearings
And lavished all his time on her with feasts and revelry,
His mistress of the spring, his despot of the night.
There were other ladies in his court, three thousand of rare beauty,
But his favours to three thousand were concentered in one body.
By the time she was dressed in her Golden Chamber, it would be almost evening;
And when tables were cleared in the Tower of Jade, she would loiter, slow with wine.
Her sisters and her brothers all were given titles;
And, because she so illumined and glorified her clan,
She brought to every father, every mother through the empire,
Happiness when a girl was born rather than a boy.
...High rose Li Palace, entering blue clouds,
And far and wide the breezes carried magical notes
Of soft song and slow dance, of string and bamboo music.
The Emperor's eyes could never gaze on her enough-
Till war-drums, booming from Yuyang, shocked the whole earth
And broke the tunes of The Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat.
The Forbidden City, the nine-tiered palace, loomed in the dust
From thousands of horses and chariots headed southwest.
The imperial flag opened the way, now moving and now pausing- -
But thirty miles from the capital, beyond the western gate,
The men of the army stopped, not one of them would stir
Till under their horses' hoofs they might trample those moth- eyebrows....
Flowery hairpins fell to the ground, no one picked them up,
And a green and white jade hair-tassel and a yellowgold hair- bird.
The Emperor could not save her, he could only cover his face.
And later when he turned to look, the place of blood and tears
Was hidden in a yellow dust blown by a cold wind.
... At the cleft of the Dagger-Tower Trail they crisscrossed through a cloud-line
Under Omei Mountain. The last few came.
Flags and banners lost their colour in the fading sunlight....
But as waters of Shu are always green and its mountains always blue,
So changeless was His Majesty's love and deeper than the days.
He stared at the desolate moon from his temporary palace.
He heard bell-notes in the evening rain, cutting at his breast.
And when heaven and earth resumed their round and the dragon car faced home,
The Emperor clung to the spot and would not turn away
From the soil along the Mawei slope, under which was buried
That memory, that anguish. Where was her jade-white face?
Ruler and lords, when eyes would meet, wept upon their coats
As they rode, with loose rein, slowly eastward, back to the capital.
...The pools, the gardens, the palace, all were just as before,
The Lake Taiye hibiscus, the Weiyang Palace willows;
But a petal was like her face and a willow-leaf her eyebrow --
And what could he do but cry whenever he looked at them?
...Peach-trees and plum-trees blossomed, in the winds of spring;
Lakka-foliage fell to the ground, after autumn rains;
The Western and Southern Palaces were littered with late grasses,
And the steps were mounded with red leaves that no one swept away.
Her Pear-Garden Players became white-haired
And the eunuchs thin-eyebrowed in her Court of PepperTrees;
Over the throne flew fire-flies, while he brooded in the twilight.
He would lengthen the lamp-wick to its end and still could never sleep.
Bell and drum would slowly toll the dragging nighthours
And the River of Stars grow sharp in the sky, just before dawn,
And the porcelain mandarin-ducks on the roof grow thick with morning frost
And his covers of kingfisher-blue feel lonelier and colder
With the distance between life and death year after year;
And yet no beloved spirit ever visited his dreams.
...At Lingqiong lived a Taoist priest who was a guest of heaven,
Able to summon spirits by his concentrated mind.
And people were so moved by the Emperor's constant brooding
That they besought the Taoist priest to see if he could find her.
He opened his way in space and clove the ether like lightning,
Up to heaven, under the earth, looking everywhere.
Above, he searched the Green Void, below, the Yellow Spring;
But he failed, in either place, to find the one he looked for.
And then he heard accounts of an enchanted isle at sea,
A part of the intangible and incorporeal world,
With pavilions and fine towers in the five-coloured air,
And of exquisite immortals moving to and fro,
And of one among them-whom they called The Ever True-
With a face of snow and flowers resembling hers he sought.
So he went to the West Hall's gate of gold and knocked at the jasper door
And asked a girl, called Morsel-of-Jade, to tell The Doubly- Perfect.
And the lady, at news of an envoy from the Emperor of China,
Was startled out of dreams in her nine-flowered, canopy.
She pushed aside her pillow, dressed, shook away sleep,
And opened the pearly shade and then the silver screen.
Her cloudy hair-dress hung on one side because of her great haste,
And her flower-cap was loose when she came along the terrace,
While a light wind filled her cloak and fluttered with her motion
As though she danced The Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat.
And the tear-drops drifting down her sad white face
Were like a rain in spring on the blossom of the pear.
But love glowed deep within her eyes when she bade him thank her liege,
Whose form and voice had been strange to her ever since their parting --
Since happiness had ended at the Court of the Bright Sun,
And moons and dawns had become long in Fairy-Mountain Palace.
But when she turned her face and looked down toward the earth
And tried to see the capital, there were only fog and dust.
So she took out, with emotion, the pledges he had given
And, through his envoy, sent him back a shell box and gold hairpin,
But kept one branch of the hairpin and one side of the box,
Breaking the gold of the hairpin, breaking the shell of the box;
"Our souls belong together," she said, " like this gold and this shell --
Somewhere, sometime, on earth or in heaven, we shall surely
And she sent him, by his messenger, a sentence reminding him
Of vows which had been known only to their two hearts:
"On the seventh day of the Seventh-month, in the Palace of Long Life,
We told each other secretly in the quiet midnight world
That we wished to fly in heaven, two birds with the wings of one,
And to grow together on the earth, two branches of one tree."
Earth endures, heaven endures; some time both shall end,
While this unending sorrow goes on and on for ever.

 132
五言律詩
孟浩然
早寒江上有懷

木落雁南渡, 北風江上寒。
我家襄水曲, 遙隔楚雲端。
鄉淚客中盡, 孤帆天際看。
迷津欲有問, 平海夕漫漫。
 Five-character-regular-verse
Meng Haoran
MEMORIES IN EARLY WINTER
South go the wildgesse, for leaves are now falling,
And the water is cold with a wind from the north.
I remember my home; but the Xiang River's curves
Are walled by the clouds of this southern country.
I go forward. I weep till my tears are spent.
I see a sail in the far sky.
Where is the ferry? Will somebody tell me?
It's growing rough. It's growing dark. 
137
五言律詩
劉長卿
新年作

鄉心新歲切, 天畔獨潸然。
老至居人下, 春歸在客先。
嶺猿同旦暮, 江柳共風煙。
已似長沙傅, 從今又幾年。

Five-character-regular-verse
Liu Changqing
NEW YEAR'S AT CHANGSHA
New Year's only deepens my longing,
Adds to the lonely tears of an exile
Who, growing old and still in harness,
Is left here by the homing spring....
Monkeys come down from the mountains to haunt me.
I bend like a willow, when it rains on the river.
I think of Jia Yi, who taught here and died here-
And I wonder what my term shall be.


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