261

七言绝句

贺知章

回乡偶书

少小离家老大回， 乡音无改鬓毛衰；

儿童相见不相识， 笑问客从何处来。

Seven-character-quatrain

He Zhizhang

COMING HOME

I left home young. I return old;

Speaking as then, but with hair grown thin;

And my children, meeting me, do not know me.

They smile and say: "Stranger, where do you come from?"

262

七言绝句

张旭

桃花溪

隐隐飞桥隔野烟， 石矶西畔问渔船；

桃花尽日随流水， 洞在清溪何处边？

又作溪

Seven-character-quatrain

Zhang Xu

PEACH-BLOSSOM RIVER

A bridge flies away through a wild mist,

Yet here are the rocks and the fishermans boat.

Oh, if only this river of floating peach-petals

Might lead me at last to the mythical cave!

263

七言绝句

王维

九月九日忆山东兄弟

独在异乡为异客， 每逢佳节倍思亲。

遥知兄弟登高处， 遍插茱萸少一人。

Seven-character-quatrain

Wang Wei

ON THE MOUNTAIN HOLIDAY

THINKING OF MY BROTHERS IN SHANDONG

All alone in a foreign land,

I am twice as homesick on this day

When brothers carry dogwood up the mountain,

Each of them a branch-and my branch missing.

264

七言绝句

王昌龄

芙蓉楼送辛渐

寒雨连江夜入吴， 平明送客楚山孤。

洛阳亲友如相问， 一片冰心在玉壶。

Seven-character-quatrain

Wang Changling

AT HIBISCUS INN

PARTING WITH XIN JIAN

With this cold night-rain hiding the river, you have come into Wu.

In the level dawn, all alone, you will be starting for the mountains of Chu.

Answer, if they ask of me at Loyang:

"One-hearted as ice in a crystal vase."

265

七言绝句

王昌龄

闺怨

闺中少妇不知愁， 春日凝妆上翠楼。

忽见陌头杨柳色， 悔教夫婿觅封侯。

Seven-character-quatrain

Wang Changling

IN HER QUIET WINDOW

Too young to have learned what sorrow means,

Attired for spring, she climbs to her high chamber....

The new green of the street-willows is wounding her heart --

Just for a title she sent him to war.

266

七言绝句

王昌龄

春宫曲

昨夜风开露井桃， 未央前殿月轮高。

平阳歌舞新承宠， 帘外春寒赐锦袍。

Seven-character-quatrain

Wang Changling

A SONG OF THE SPRING PALACE

Last night, while a gust blew peach-petals open

And the moon shone high on the Palace Beyond Time,

The Emperor gave Pingyang, for her dancing,

Brocades against the cold spring-wind.

267

七言绝句

王翰

凉州词

葡萄美酒夜光杯， 欲饮琵琶马上催。

醉卧沙场君莫笑， 古来征战几人回。

Seven-character-quatrain

Wang Han

A SONG OF LIANGZHOU

They sing, they drain their cups of jade,

They strum on horseback their guitars.

...Why laugh when they fall asleep drunk on the sand ? --

How many soldiers ever come home?

268

七言绝句

李白

送孟浩然之广陵

故人西辞黄鹤楼， 烟花三月下扬州。

孤帆远影碧空尽， 惟见长江天际流。

Seven-character-quatrain

Li Bai

A FAREWELL TO MENG HAORAN

ON HIS WAY TO YANGZHOU

You have left me behind, old friend, at the Yellow Crane Terrace,

On your way to visit Yangzhou in the misty month of flowers;

Your sail, a single shadow, becomes one with the blue sky,

Till now I see only the river, on its way to heaven.

269

七言绝句

李白

下江陵

朝辞白帝彩云间， 千里江陵一日还。

两岸猿声啼不住， 轻舟已过万重山。

Seven-character-quatrain

Li Bai

THROUGH THE YANGZI GORGES

From the walls of Baidi high in the coloured dawn

To Jiangling by night-fall is three hundred miles,

Yet monkeys are still calling on both banks behind me

To my boat these ten thousand mountains away.

270

七言绝句

岑参

逢入京使

故园东望路漫漫， 双袖龙钟泪不乾。

马上相逢无纸笔， 凭君传语报平安。

Seven-character-quatrain

Cen Can

ON MEETING A MESSENGER TO THE CAPITAL

Its a long way home, a long way east.

I am old and my sleeve is wet with tears.

We meet on horseback. I have no means of writing.

Tell them three words: "He is safe."

271

七言绝句

杜甫

江南逢李龟年

岐王宅里寻常见， 崔九堂前几度闻。

正是江南好风景， 落花时节又逢君。

Seven-character-quatrain

Du Fu

ON MEETING LI GUINIAN DOWN THE RIVER

I met you often when you were visiting princes

And when you were playing in noblemens halls.

...Spring passes.... Far down the river now,

I find you alone under falling petals.

272

七言绝句

韦应物

滁州西涧

独怜幽草涧边生， 上有黄鹂深树鸣。

春潮带雨晚来急， 野渡无人舟自横。

Seven-character-quatrain

Wei Yingwu

AT CHUZHOU ON THE WESTERN STREAM

Where tender grasses rim the stream

And deep boughs trill with mango-birds,

On the spring flood of last nights rain

The ferry-boat moves as though someone were poling.

273

七言绝句

张继

枫桥夜泊

月落乌啼霜满天， 江枫渔火对愁眠。

姑苏城外寒山寺， 夜半钟声到客船。

Seven-character-quatrain

Zhang Ji

A NIGHT-MOORING NEAR MAPLE BRIDGE

While I watch the moon go down, a crow caws through the frost;

Under the shadows of maple-trees a fisherman moves with his torch;

And I hear, from beyond Suzhou, from the temple on Cold Mountain,

Ringing for me, here in my boat, the midnight bell.

274

七言绝句

韩翃

寒食

春城无处不飞花， 寒食东风御柳斜。

日暮汉宫传蜡烛， 轻烟散入五侯家。

Seven-character-quatrain

Han Hong

AFTER THE DAY OF NO FIRE

Petals of spring fly all through the city

From the wind in the willows of the Imperial River.

And at dusk, from the palace, candles are given out

To light first the mansions of the Five Great Lords.

275

七言绝句

刘方平

月夜

更深月色半人家， 北斗阑干南斗斜。

今夜偏知春气暖， 虫声新透绿窗沙。

Seven-character-quatrain

Liu Fangping

A MOONLIGHT NIGHT

When the moon has coloured half the house,

With the North Star at its height and the South Star setting,

I can fed the first motions of the warm air of spring

In the singing of an insect at my green-silk window.

276

七言绝句

刘方平

春怨

纱窗日落渐黄昏， 金屋无人见泪痕。

寂寞空庭春欲晚， 梨花满地不开门。

Seven-character-quatrain

Liu Fangping

SPRING HEART-BREAK

With twilight passing her silken window,

She weeps alone in her chamber of gold

For spring is departing from a desolate garden,

And a drift of pear-petals is closing a door.

277

七言绝句

柳中庸

征人怨

岁岁金河复玉关， 朝朝马策与刀环。

三春白雪归青冢， 万里黄河绕黑山。

Seven-character-quatrain

Liu Zhongyong

A TROOPERS BURDEN

For years, to guard the Jade Pass and the River of Gold,

With our hands on our horse-whips and our swordhilts,

We have watched the green graves change to snow

And the Yellow Stream ring the Black Mountain forever.

278

七言绝句

顾况

宫词

玉楼天半起笙歌， 风送宫嫔笑语和。

月殿影开闻夜漏， 水晶帘卷近秋河。

Seven-character-quatrain

Gu Kuang

A PALACE POEM

High above, from a jade chamber, songs float half-way to heaven,

The palace-girls gay voices are mingled with the wind --

But now they are still, and you hear a water-clock drip in the Court of the Moon....

They have opened the curtain wide, they are facing the River of Stars.

279

七言绝句

李益

夜上受降城闻笛

回乐峰前沙似雪， 受降城外月如霜。

不知何处吹芦管， 一夜征人尽望乡。

Seven-character-quatrain

Li Yi

ON HEARING A FLUTE AT NIGHT

FROM THE WALL OF SHOUXIANG

The sand below the border-mountain lies like snow,

And the moon like frost beyond the city-wall,

And someone somewhere, playing a flute,

Has made the soldiers homesick all night long.

280

七言绝句

刘禹锡

乌衣巷

朱雀桥边野草花， 乌衣巷口夕阳斜。

旧时王谢堂前燕， 飞入寻常百姓家。

Seven-character-quatrain

Liu Yuxi

BLACKTAIL ROW

Grass has run wild now by the Bridge of Red-Birds;

And swallows wings, at sunset, in Blacktail Row

Where once they visited great homes,

Dip among doorways of the poor.

281

七言绝句

刘禹锡

春词

新妆宜面下朱楼， 深锁春光一院愁。

行到中庭数花朵， 蜻蜓飞上玉搔头。

Seven-character-quatrain

Liu Yuxi

A SPRING SONG

In gala robes she comes down from her chamber

Into her courtyard, enclosure of spring....

When she tries from the centre to count the flowers,

On her hairpin of jade a dragon-fly poises.

282

七言绝句

白居易

后宫词

泪湿罗巾梦不成， 夜深前殿按歌声。

红颜未老恩先断， 斜倚薰笼坐到明。

Seven-character-quatrain

Bai Juyi

A SONG OF THE PALACE

Her tears are spent, but no dreams come.

She can hear the others singing through the night.

She has lost his love. Alone with her beauty,

She leans till dawn on her incense-pillow.

283

七言绝句

张祜

赠内人

禁门宫树月痕过， 媚眼惟看宿鹭窠。

斜拔玉钗灯影畔， 剔开红焰救飞蛾。

Seven-character-quatrain

Zhang Hu

OF ONE IN THE FORBIDDEN CITY

When the moonlight, reaching a tree by the gate,

Shows her a quiet bird on its nest,

She removes her jade hairpins and sits in the shadow

And puts out a flame where a moth was flying.

284

七言绝句

张祜

集灵台之一

日光斜照集灵台， 红树花迎晓露开。

昨夜上皇新授箓， 太真含笑入帘来。

Seven-character-quatrain

Zhang Hu

ON THE TERRACE OF ASSEMBLED ANGELS I

The sun has gone slanting over a lordly roof

And red-blossoming branches have leaned toward the dew

Since the Emperor last night summoned a new favourite

And Lady Yangs bright smile came through the curtains.

285

七言绝句

张祜

集灵台之二

虢国夫人承主恩， 平明骑马入宫门。

却嫌脂粉污颜色， 淡扫蛾眉朝至尊。

Seven-character-quatrain

Zhang Hu

ON THE TERRACE OF ASSEMBLED ANGELS II

The Emperor has sent for Lady Guoguo.

In the morning, riding toward the palace-gate,

Disdainful of the paint that might have marred her beauty,

To meet him she smooths her two moth-tiny eyebrows.

286

七言绝句

张祜

题金陵渡

金陵津渡小山楼， 一宿行人自可愁。

潮落夜江斜月里， 两三星火是瓜州。

Seven-character-quatrain

Zhang Hu

AT NANJING FERRY

This one-story inn at Nanjing ferry

Is a miserable lodging-place for the night --

But across the dead moons ebbing tide,

Lights from Guazhou beckon on the river.

287

七言绝句

朱庆余

宫词

寂寂花时闭院门， 美人相并立琼轩。

含情欲说宫中事， 鹦鹉前头不敢言。

Seven-character-quatrain

Zhu Qingyu

A SONG OF THE PALACE

Now that the palace-gate has softly closed on its flowers,

Ladies file out to their pavilion of jade,

Abrim to the lips with imperial gossip

But not daring to breathe it with a parrot among them.

288

七言绝句

朱庆余

近试上张水部

洞房昨夜停红烛， 待晓堂前拜舅姑。

妆罢低声问夫婿， 画眉深浅入时无。

Seven-character-quatrain

Zhu Qingyu

ON THE EVE OF GOVERNMENT EXAMINATIONS

TO SECRETARY ZHANG

Out go the great red wedding-chamber candles.

Tomorrow in state the bride faces your parents.

She has finished preparing; she asks of you meekly

Whether her eyebrows are painted in fashion.

289

七言绝句

杜牧

将赴吴兴登乐游原

清时有味是无能， 闲爱孤云静爱僧。

欲把一麾江海去， 乐游原上望昭陵。

Seven-character-quatrain

Du Mu

I CLIMB TO THE LEYOU TOMBS

BEFORE LEAVING FOR WUXING

Even in this good reign, how can I serve?

The lone cloud rather, the Buddhist peace....

Once more, before crossing river and sea,

I face the great Emperors mountain-tomb.

290

七言绝句

杜牧

赤壁

折戟沈沙铁未销， 自将磨洗认前朝。

东风不与周郎便， 铜雀春深锁二乔。

Seven-character-quatrain

Du Mu

BY THE PURPLE CLIFF

On a part of a spear still unrusted in the sand

I have burnished the symbol of an ancient kingdom....

Except for a wind aiding General Zhou Yu,

Spring would have sealed both Qiao girls in CopperBird Palace.

291

七言绝句

杜牧

泊秦淮

烟笼寒水月笼沙， 夜泊秦淮近酒家。

商女不知亡国恨， 隔江犹唱后庭花。

Seven-character-quatrain

Du Mu

A MOORING ON THE QIN HUAI RIVER

Mist veils the cold stream, and moonlight the sand,

As I moor in the shadow of a river-tavern,

Where girls, with no thought of a perished kingdom,

Gaily echo A Song of Courtyard Flowers.

292

七言绝句

杜牧

寄扬州韩绰判官

青山隐隐水迢迢， 秋尽江南草未凋。

二十四桥明月夜， 玉人何处教吹箫。

Seven-character-quatrain

Du Mu

A MESSAGE TO HAN CHO THE YANGZHOU MAGISTRATE

There are faint green mountains and far green waters,

And grasses in this river region not yet faded by autumn;

And clear in the moon on the Twenty-Four Bridges,

Girls white as jade are teaching flute-music.

293

七言绝句

杜牧

遣怀

落魄江湖载酒行， 楚腰纤细掌中轻。

十年一觉扬州梦， 赢得青楼薄幸名。

Seven-character-quatrain

Du Mu

A CONFESSION

With my wine-bottle, watching by river and lake

For a lady so tiny as to dance on my palm,

I awake, after dreaming ten years in Yangzhou,

Known as fickle, even in the Street of Blue Houses.

294

七言绝句

杜牧

秋夕

银烛秋光冷画屏， 轻罗小扇扑流萤。

天阶夜色凉如水， 坐看牵牛织女星。

Seven-character-quatrain

Du Mu

IN THE AUTUMN NIGHT

Her candle-light is silvery on her chill bright screen.

Her little silk fan is for fireflies....

She lies watching her staircase cold in the moon,

And two stars parted by the River of Heaven.

295

七言绝句

杜牧

赠别之一

娉娉袅袅十三余， 豆蔻梢头二月初。

春风十里扬州路， 卷上珠帘总不如。

Seven-character-quatrain

Du Mu

PARTING I

She is slim and supple and not yet fourteen,

The young spring-tip of a cardamon-spray.

On the Yangzhou Road for three miles in the breeze

Every pearl-screen is open. But theres no one like her.

296

七言绝句

杜牧

赠别之二

多情却似总无情， 唯觉樽前笑不成。

蜡烛有心还惜别， 替人垂泪到天明。

Seven-character-quatrain

Du Mu

Parting II

How can a deep love seem deep love,

How can it smile, at a farewell feast?

Even the candle, feeling our sadness,

Weeps, as we do, all night long.

297

七言绝句

杜牧

金谷园

繁华事散逐香尘， 流水无情草自春。

日暮东风怨啼鸟， 落花犹似坠楼人。

Seven-character-quatrain

Du Mu

THE GARDEN OF THE GOLDEN VALLEY

Stories of passion make sweet dust,

Calm water, grasses unconcerned.

At sunset, when birds cry in the wind,

Petals are falling like a girl s robe long ago.

298

七言绝句

李商隐

夜雨寄北

君问归期未有期， 巴山夜雨涨秋池。

何当共剪西窗烛， 却话巴山夜雨时。

Seven-character-quatrain

Li Shangyin

NOTE ON A RAINY NIGHT TO A FRIEND IN THE NORTH

You ask me when I am coming. I do not know.

I dream of your mountains and autumn pools brimming all night with the rain.

Oh, when shall we be trimming wicks again, together in your western window?

When shall I be hearing your voice again, all night in the rain?

299

七言绝句

李商隐

寄令狐郎中

嵩云秦树久离居， 双鲤迢迢一纸笔。

休问梁园旧宾客， 茂陵秋雨病相如。

Seven-character-quatrain

Li Shangyin

A MESSAGE TO SECRETARY LINGHU

I am far from the clouds of Sung Mountain, a long way from trees in Qin;

And I send to you a message carried by two carp:

-- Absent this autumn from the Princes garden,

Theres a poet at Maoling sick in the rain.

300

七言绝句

李商隐

为有

为有云屏无限娇， 凤城寒尽怕春宵。

无端嫁得金龟婿， 辜负香衾事早朝。

Seven-character-quatrain

Li Shangyin

THERE IS ONLY ONE

There is only one Carved-Cloud, exquisite always-

Yet she dreads the spring, blowing cold in the palace,

When her husband, a Knight of the Golden Tortoise,

Will leave her sweet bed, to be early at court.

301

七言绝句

李商隐

隋宫

乘兴南游不戒严， 九重谁省谏书函。

春风举国裁宫锦， 半作障泥半作帆。

Seven-character-quatrain

Li Shangyin

THE SUI PALACE

When gaily the Emperor toured the south

Contrary to every warning,

His whole empire cut brocades,

Half for wheel-guards, half for sails.

302

七言绝句

李商隐

瑶池

瑶池阿母绮窗开， 黄竹歌声动地哀。

八骏日行三万里， 穆王何事不重来。

Seven-character-quatrain

LI SHANGYIN

THE JADE POOL

The Mother of Heaven, in her window by the Jade Pool,

Hears The Yellow Bamboo Song shaking the whole earth.

Where is Emperor Mu, with his eight horses running

Ten thousand miles a day? Why has he never come back?

303

七言绝句

李商隐

嫦娥

云母屏风烛影深， 长河渐落晓星沈。

嫦娥应悔偷灵药， 碧海青天夜夜心。

Seven-character-quatrain

Li Shangyin

TO THE MOON GODDESS

Now that a candle-shadow stands on the screen of carven marble

And the River of Heaven slants and the morning stars are low,

Are you sorry for having stolen the potion that has set you

Over purple seas and blue skies, to brood through the long nights?

304

七言绝句

李商隐

贾生

宣室求贤访逐臣， 贾生才调更无伦。

可怜夜半虚前席， 不问苍生问鬼神。

Seven-character-quatrain

Li Shangyin

JIASHENG

When the Emperor sought guidance from wise men, from exiles,

He found no calmer wisdom than that of young Jia

And assigned him the foremost council-seat at midnight,

Yet asked him about gods, instead of about people.

305

七言绝句

温庭筠

瑶瑟怨

冰簟银床梦不成， 碧天如水夜云轻。

雁声远过潇湘去， 十二楼中月自明。

Seven-character-quatrain

Wen Tingyun

SHE SIGHS ON HER JADE LUTE

A cool-matted silvery bed; but no dreams....

An evening sky as green as water, shadowed with tender clouds;

But far off over the southern rivers the calling of a wildgoose,

And here a twelve-story building, lonely under the moon.

306

七言绝句

郑畋

马嵬坡

玄宗回马杨妃死， 云雨难忘日月新。

终是圣明天子事， 景阳宫井又何人。

Seven-character-quatrain

Zheng Tian

ON MAWEI SLOPE

When the Emperor came back from his ride they had murdered Lady Yang --

That passion unforgettable through all the suns and moons

They had led him to forsake her by reminding him

Of an emperor slain with his lady once, in a well at Jingyang Palace.

307

七言绝句

韩偓

已凉

碧阑干外绣帘垂， 猩色屏风画折枝。

八尺龙须方锦褥， 已凉天气未寒时。

Seven-character-quatrain

Han Wu

COOLER WEATHER

Her jade-green alcove curtained thick with silk,

Her vermilion screen with its pattern of flowers,

Her eight- foot dragon-beard mat and her quilt brocaded in squares

Are ready now for nights that are neither warm nor cold.

308

七言绝句

韦庄

金陵图

江雨霏霏江草齐， 六朝如梦鸟空啼。

无情最是台城柳， 依旧烟笼十里堤。

Seven-character-quatrain

Wei Zhuang

A NANJING LANDSCAPE

Though a shower bends the river-grass, a bird is singing,

While ghosts of the Six Dynasties pass like a dream

Around the Forbidden City, under weeping willows

Which loom still for three miles along the misty moat.

309

七言绝句

陈陶

陇西行

誓扫匈奴不顾身， 五千貂锦丧胡尘。

可怜无定河边骨， 犹是深闺梦里人。

Seven-character-quatrain

Chen Tao

TURKESTAN

Thinking only of their vow that they would crush the Tartars- -

On the desert, clad in sable and silk, five thousand of them fell....

But arisen from their crumbling bones on the banks of the river at the border,

Dreams of them enter, like men alive, into rooms where their loves lie sleeping.

310

七言绝句

张泌

寄人

别梦依依到谢家， 小廊回合曲阑斜。

多情只有春庭月， 犹为离人照落花。

Seven-character-quatrain

Zhang Bi

A MESSAGE

I go in a dream to the house of Xie

Through a zigzag porch with arching rails

To a court where the spring moon lights for ever

Phantom flowers and a single figure.

311

七言绝句

无名氏

杂诗

尽寒食雨草萋萋， 著麦苗风柳映堤。

等是有家归未得， 杜鹃休向耳边啼。

Seven-character-quatrain

Wumingshi

THE DAY OF NO FIRE

As the holiday approaches, and grasses are bright after rain,

And the causeway gleams with willows, and wheatfields wave in the wind,

We are thinking of our kinsfolk, far away from us.

O cuckoo, why do you follow us, why do you call us home?