Tag Archives: Tang Dynasty Poetry

“Lament I” [感遇一] by Zhang Jiuling [张九龄]

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A lone goose flies in from the sea,
 Not daring to land in water.
 Glimpsing a pair of Kingfisher --
 Nested Three Pearl Tree squatters --
 It asks, "High up in that rare tree
 Of gold spheres, are you not afraid?
 Fancy clothes incur points and jeers
 And those high up are harshly weighed.
 As I roam dark rivers and hills,
 Envious hunters give me chills."

This is the first of the 300 Tang Poems [唐诗三百首] and it is also the first of a quartet of poems. The original poem in Simplified Chinese:

孤鸿海上来， 池潢不敢顾； 
侧见双翠鸟， 巢在三珠树。 
矫矫珍木巅， 得无金丸惧？ 
美服患人指， 高明逼神恶。 
今我游冥冥， 弋者何所慕？

“Climbing Mt. Xian with Friends” [与诸子登岘山] by Meng Haoran [孟浩然]

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Human affairs ever grind on --
  Ancient or modern, shit repeats.
 Mountains and rivers are changeless.
  We climb to find our vista seats.
 Cascade, fisher, and bridge -- subdued;
  Air grows cold near dreamy, deep pools.
 We read an old stone monument,
  As tears glisten on cheeks like jewels.

Original Poem in Simplified Chinese:

人事有代谢， 往来成古今。
江山留胜迹， 我辈复登临。
水落鱼梁浅， 天寒梦泽深。
羊公碑字在， 读罢泪沾襟。

Note: This is poem #125 from 300 Tang Poems [唐诗三百首]

“On Dongting Lake: To Premier Zhang” [临洞庭上张丞相] by Meng Haoran [孟浩然] [w/ Audio]

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The lake is glassy in August.
 The air and sky are oh-so clear.
 Vapor steams off of Yunmeng ponds,
 Ripples lap at Yueyang's piers.
 There're no boats to cross the water.
 Shame! I couldn't emulate sages.
 I sit and watch a fisherman
 And envy his catch and his wages.

This is poem #124 in 300 Tang Poems [唐诗三百首.] Original Poem in Simplified Chinese:

八月湖水平， 涵虚混太清。
气蒸云梦泽， 波撼岳阳城。
欲济无舟楫， 端居耻圣明。
坐观垂钓者， 空有羡鱼情。

“Down to Jiangling” [下江陵] by Li Bai [李 白]

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I left Baidi amid ochre clouds --
   Crossed a thousand li by day's end.
 Monkeys howled and chased along each bank;
   My skiff slipped past ten thousand mountains.

The original in Simplified Chinese:

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

Note: this is poem #269 of the 300 Tang Poems [唐詩三百首.]

“Bamboo Grove Cabin” [竹里馆] by Wang Wei [王维] [w/ Audio]

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Sitting alone -- secluded bamboo grove:
   I whistle or pluck my zither;
 People don't know my deep forest;
   Moon and I shine on each other.

Original in Simplified Chinese:

独坐幽篁里
弹琴复长啸
深林人不知
明月来相照

“Spring Thoughts” by Li Bai [w/ Audio]

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Yan grass shimmers like silken jade.
 Qin mulberry trees' green leaves droop.
 Your homecoming is now at hand
 As heartbreak has me thin and stooped.
 Spring Winds and I are strangers --
 Why, past my curtains, the inward swoop?

Chinese Title: 春思; Original poem in Simplified Chinese:

燕草如碧丝， 秦桑低绿枝；
当君怀归日， 是妾断肠时。 
春风不相识， 何事入罗帏？

Note: this is poem #7 in “300 Tang Poems” [唐诗三百首]

“Night Travels” by Du Fu [w/ Audio]

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Slender grass waves in a light breeze;
   Tall-masted boat rocks in the night.
 Stars hang low, over the vast plain;
   The river moon struggles for height.
 I'll never gain fame by the brush --
   Too old for civil service posts...
 Wading, wading, what am I like?
    A sandpiper on the mud coast!

The original in Chinese (Title: 旅夜書懷):

細草微風岸， 
危檣獨夜舟。 
星垂平野闊， 
月湧大江流。 
名豈文章著， 
官應老病休。 
飄飄何所似， 
天地一沙鷗。

This is Poem 113 of “Three Hundred Tang Poems,” i.e. 唐诗三百首

“Night Mooring” by Zhang Ji [w/ Audio]

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The moon sets; crows caw below frosty skies.
 Boats, moored to maples -- lamps glow like cat eyes.
 Cold Mountain Temple, outside Gusu's bounds:
 The midnight bell cuts off soft water sounds.

“Spring Dawn” (春曉) by Meng Haoran [w/ Audio]

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My Spring sleep is unswayed by dawn --
 Though birds are heard through screen, still drawn.
 Recalling night sounds of rain and wind,
 I wonder how the flowers have thinned?

Original in Chinese:

春眠不覺曉，
處處聞啼鳥。
夜來風雨聲，
花落知多少。

“The Blue-Green Stream” by Wang Wei (Lowell version) [w/ Audio]

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Every time I have started for the Yellow Flower River,
 I have gone down the Blue-Green Stream,
 Following the hills, making ten thousand turnings.
 We go along rapidly, but advance scarcely one hundred li.
 We are in the midst of a noise of water,
 Of the confused and mingled sounds of water broken by stones,
 And in the deep darkness of pine-trees.
 Rocked, rocked,
 Moving on and on,
 We float past water-chestnuts
 Into a still clearness reflecting reeds and rushes.
 My heart is clean and white as silk; 
   it has already achieved Peace;
 It is smooth as the placid river.
 I long to stay here, curled up on the rocks,
 Dropping my fish-line forever.

NOTE: This version was translated by Florence Ayscough and adapted by Amy Lowell in the book: Fir-Flower Tablets (1921) New York: Houghton Mifflin, p. 123