Wen Fu 3 [文赋三]: “The Writing Process” by Lu Ji [陆机] [w/ Audio]

After choosing one's scope of thought,
Turn the words and note their order.
Embrace the hot ones, feel their burn;
Knock on lines and hear their timbre.
Use the branches to shake the leaves,
And waves can be traced to their source.
Make the hidden come visible;
Make the difficult seem simple.
A tiger's transformation startles --
Birds take flight on sight of dragons.
Sometimes words nest into each other;
Sometimes, jaggedly, they won't mesh.
With a clear, contemplative mind
Hordes filter through to easy speech.
Heaven and Earth contained within:
All things flow from the brush with ease.
Starting timidly with dry mouth,
Ending with a wandering brush.
Meaning is borne by a stout trunk,
Language hangs like leaf and fruit.
Make words and intended meaning match
As moods show clearly on a face.
When happiness comes, laugh & smile,
And with sorrow let loose a sigh.
At times words flow spontaneously;
At times one bites one's brush, musing.

The Original in Simplified Chinese:

然后选义按部,考辞就班。
抱暑者咸叩, 怀响者毕弹。
或因枝以振叶,或沿波而讨源。
或本隐以之显,或求易而得难。
或虎变而兽扰,或龙见而鸟澜。
或妥帖而易施,或岨峿而不安。
罄澄心以凝思,眇众虑而为言。
笼天地于形内,挫万物于笔端。
始踯躅于燥吻,终流离失所于濡翰。
理扶质以立干,文垂条而结繁。
信情貌之不差,故每变而在颜。
思涉乐其必笑,方言哀而已叹。
或操觚以率尔,或含毫而邈然。

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