Three Hundred Tang Poems (51-70)

051
七言古詩
李頎
聽安萬善吹觱篥歌
南山截竹為觱篥， 此樂本自龜茲出。 流傳漢地曲轉奇， 涼州胡人為我吹； 傍鄰聞者多歎息， 遠客思鄉皆淚垂。 世人解聽不解賞， 長飆風中自來往。 枯桑老柏寒颼飀， 九雛鳴鳳亂啾啾。 龍吟虎嘯一時發， 萬籟百泉相與秋。 忽然更作漁陽摻， 黃雲蕭條白日暗。 變調如聞楊柳春， 上林繁花照眼新。 歲夜高堂列明燭， 美酒一杯聲一曲。

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Li Qi
ON HEARING AN WANSHAN PLAY THE REED-PIPE
Bamboo from the southern hills was used to make this pipe. And its music, that was introduced from Persia first of all, Has taken on new magic through later use in China. And now the Tartar from Liangzhou, blowing it for me, Drawing a sigh from whosoever hears it, Is bringing to a wanderer's eyes homesick tears.... Many like to listen; but few understand. To and fro at will there's a long wind flying, Dry mulberry-trees, old cypresses, trembling in its chill. There are nine baby phoenixes, outcrying one another; A dragon and a tiger spring up at the same moment; Then in a hundred waterfalls ten thousand songs of autumn Are suddenly changing to The Yuyang Lament; And when yellow clouds grow thin and the white sun darkens, They are changing still again to Spring in the Willow Trees. Like Imperial Garden flowers, brightening the eye with beauty, Are the high-hall candles we have lighted this cold night, And with every cup of wine goes another round of music.

052
七言古詩
孟浩然
夜歸鹿門山歌
山寺鐘鳴晝已昏， 漁梁渡頭爭渡喧； 人隨沙路向江村， 余亦乘舟歸鹿門。 鹿門月照開煙樹， 忽到龐公棲隱處； 巖扉松徑長寂寥， 惟有幽人自來去。

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Meng Haoran
RETURNING AT NIGHT TO LUMEN MOUNTAIN
A bell in the mountain-temple sounds the coming of night. I hear people at the fishing-town stumble aboard the ferry, While others follow the sand-bank to their homes along the river. ...I also take a boat and am bound for Lumen Mountain -- And soon the Lumen moonlight is piercing misty trees. I have come, before I know it, upon an ancient hermitage, The thatch door, the piney path, the solitude, the quiet, Where a hermit lives and moves, never needing a companion.

053
七言古詩
李白
廬山謠寄盧侍御虛舟
我本楚狂人， 鳳歌笑孔丘。 手持綠玉杖， 朝別黃鶴樓； 五嶽尋仙不辭遠， 一生好入名山遊。 廬山秀出南斗傍， 屏風九疊雲錦張； 影落明湖青黛光， 金闕前開二峰長。 銀河倒挂三石梁， 香爐瀑布遙相望。 迴崖沓障淩蒼蒼， 翠影紅霞映朝日， 鳥飛不到吳天長。 登高壯觀天地間， 大江茫茫去不黃。 黃雲萬里動風色， 白波九道流雪山。 好為廬山謠， 興因廬山發。 閑窺石鏡清我心， 謝公行處蒼苔沒。 早服還丹無世情， 琴心三疊道初成； 遙見仙人彩雲裡， 手把芙蓉朝玉京。 先期汗漫九垓上， 願接盧敖遊太清。
又作還

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Li Bai
A SONG OF LU MOUNTAIN TO CENSOR LU XUZHOU
I am the madman of the Chu country Who sang a mad song disputing Confucius. ...Holding in my hand a staff of green jade, I have crossed, since morning at the Yellow Crane Terrace, All five Holy Mountains, without a thought of distance, According to the one constant habit of my life. Lu Mountain stands beside the Southern Dipper In clouds reaching silken like a nine-panelled screen, With its shadows in a crystal lake deepening the green water. The Golden Gate opens into two mountain-ranges. A silver stream is hanging down to three stone bridges Within sight of the mighty Tripod Falls. Ledges of cliff and winding trails lead to blue sky And a flush of cloud in the morning sun, Whence no flight of birds could be blown into Wu. ...I climb to the top. I survey the whole world. I see the long river that runs beyond return, Yellow clouds that winds have driven hundreds of miles And a snow-peak whitely circled by the swirl of a ninefold stream. And so I am singing a song of Lu Mountain, A song that is born of the breath of Lu Mountain. ...Where the Stone Mirror makes the heart's purity purer And green moss has buried the footsteps of Xie, I have eaten the immortal pellet and, rid of the world's troubles, Before the lute's third playing have achieved my element. Far away I watch the angels riding coloured clouds Toward heaven's Jade City, with hibiscus in their hands. And so, when I have traversed the nine sections of the world, I will follow Saint Luao up the Great Purity.

054
七言古詩
李白
夢遊天姥吟留別
海客談瀛洲， 煙濤微茫信難求。 越人語天姥， 雲霓明滅或可睹。 天姥連天向天橫， 勢拔五嶽掩赤城； 天臺四萬八千丈， 對此欲倒東南傾。 我欲因之夢吳越， 一夜飛渡鏡湖月。 湖月照我影， 送我至剡溪； 謝公宿處今尚在， 淥水蕩漾清猿啼。 腳著謝公屐， 身登青雲梯。 半壁見海日， 空中聞天雞。 千巖萬壑路不定， 迷花倚石忽已暝。 熊咆龍吟殷巖泉， 慄深林兮驚層巔。 雲青青兮欲雨， 水澹澹兮生煙。 列缺霹靂， 邱巒崩摧， 洞天石扇， 訇然中開； 青冥浩蕩不見底， 日月照耀金銀臺。 霓為衣兮風為馬， 雲之君兮紛紛而來下； 虎鼓瑟兮鸞回車。 仙之人兮列如麻。 忽魂悸以魄動， 怳驚起而長嗟。 惟覺時之枕席， 失向來之煙霞。 世間行樂亦如此， 古來萬事東流水。 別君去兮何時還？ 且放白鹿青崖間。 須行即騎訪名山， 安能摧眉折腰事權貴， 使我不得開心顏？

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Li Bai
TIANMU MOUNTAIN ASCENDED IN A DREAM
A seafaring visitor will talk about Japan, Which waters and mists conceal beyond approach; But Yueh people talk about Heavenly Mother Mountain, Still seen through its varying deeps of cloud. In a straight line to heaven, its summit enters heaven, Tops the five Holy Peaks, and casts a shadow through China With the hundred-mile length of the Heavenly Terrace Range, Which, just at this point, begins turning southeast. ...My heart and my dreams are in Wu and Yueh And they cross Mirror Lake all night in the moon. And the moon lights my shadow And me to Yan River -- With the hermitage of Xie still there And the monkeys calling clearly over ripples of green water. I wear his pegged boots Up a ladder of blue cloud, Sunny ocean half-way, Holy cock-crow in space, Myriad peaks and more valleys and nowhere a road. Flowers lure me, rocks ease me. Day suddenly ends. Bears, dragons, tempestuous on mountain and river, Startle the forest and make the heights tremble. Clouds darken with darkness of rain, Streams pale with pallor of mist. The Gods of Thunder and Lightning Shatter the whole range. The stone gate breaks asunder Venting in the pit of heaven, An impenetrable shadow. ...But now the sun and moon illumine a gold and silver terrace, And, clad in rainbow garments, riding on the wind, Come the queens of all the clouds, descending one by one, With tigers for their lute-players and phoenixes for dancers. Row upon row, like fields of hemp, range the fairy figures. I move, my soul goes flying, I wake with a long sigh, My pillow and my matting Are the lost clouds I was in. ...And this is the way it always is with human joy: Ten thousand things run for ever like water toward the east. And so I take my leave of you, not knowing for how long. ...But let me, on my green slope, raise a white deer And ride to you, great mountain, when I have need of you. Oh, how can I gravely bow and scrape to men of high rank and men of high office Who never will suffer being shown an honest-hearted face!

055
七言古詩
李白
金陵酒肆留別
風吹柳花滿店香， 吳姬壓酒喚客嘗； 金陵子弟來相送， 欲行不行各盡觴。 請君試問東流水， 別意與之誰短長？

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Li Bai
PARTING AT A WINE-SHOP IN NANJING
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!

056
七言古詩
李白
宣州謝朓樓餞別校書叔雲
棄我去者， 昨日之日不可留； 亂我心者， 今日之日多煩憂。 長風萬里送秋雁， 對此可以酣高樓。 蓬萊文章建安骨， 中間小謝又清發， 俱懷逸興壯思飛， 欲上青天覽明月。 抽刀斷水水更流， 舉杯銷愁愁更愁。 人生在世不稱意， 明朝散髮弄扁舟。
又作復

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Li Bai
A FAREWELL TO SECRETARY SHUYUN AT THE XIETIAO VILLA IN XUANZHOU
Since yesterday had to throw me and bolt, Today has hurt my heart even more. The autumn wildgeese have a long wind for escort As I face them from this villa, drinking my wine. The bones of great writers are your brushes, in the School of Heaven, And I am a Lesser Xie growing up by your side. We both are exalted to distant thought, Aspiring to the sky and the bright moon. But since water still flows, though we cut it with our swords, And sorrows return, though we drown them with wine, Since the world can in no way answer our craving, I will loosen my hair tomorrow and take to a fishingboat.

057
七言古詩
岑參
走馬川行奉送封大夫出師西征
君不見走馬川行雪海邊， 平沙莽莽黃入天。 輪臺九月風夜吼， 一川碎石大如斗， 隨風滿地石亂走。 匈奴草黃馬正肥， 金山西見煙塵飛， 漢家大將西出師。 將軍金甲夜不脫， 半夜軍行戈相撥， 風頭如刀面如割。 馬毛帶雪汗氣蒸， 五花連錢旋作冰， 幕中草檄硯水凝。 虜騎聞之應膽懾， 料知短兵不敢接， 車師西門佇獻捷。

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Cen Can
A SONG OF RUNNING-HORSE RIVER IN FAREWELL TO GENERAL FENG OF THE WESTERN EXPEDITION
Look how swift to the snowy sea races Running-Horse River! -- And sand, up from the desert, flies yellow into heaven. This Ninth-month night is blowing cold at Wheel Tower, And valleys, like peck measures, fill with the broken boulders That downward, headlong, follow the wind. ...In spite of grey grasses, Tartar horses are plump; West of the Hill of Gold, smoke and dust gather. O General of the Chinese troops, start your campaign! Keep your iron armour on all night long, Send your soldiers forward with a clattering of weapons! ...While the sharp wind's point cuts the face like a knife, And snowy sweat steams on the horses' backs, Freezing a pattern of five-flower coins, Your challenge from camp, from an inkstand of ice, Has chilled the barbarian chieftain's heart. You will have no more need of an actual battle! -- We await the news of victory, here at the western pass!

058
七言古詩
岑參
輪臺歌奉送封大夫出師西征
輪臺城頭夜吹角， 輪臺城北旄頭落。 羽書昨夜過渠黎， 單于已在金山西。 戍樓西望煙塵黑， 漢兵屯在輪臺北。 上將擁旄西出征， 平明吹笛大軍行。 四邊伐鼓雪海湧， 三軍大呼陰山動。 虜塞兵氣連雲屯， 戰場白骨纏草根。 劍河風急雪片闊， 沙口石凍馬蹄脫。 亞相勤王甘苦辛， 誓將報主靜邊塵。 古來青史誰不見？ 今見功名勝古人。

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Cen Can
A SONG OF WHEEL TOWER IN FAREWELL TO GENERAL FENG OF THE WESTERN EXPEDITION
On Wheel Tower parapets night-bugles are blowing, Though the flag at the northern end hangs limp. Scouts, in the darkness, are passing Quli, Where, west of the Hill of Gold, the Tartar chieftain has halted We can see, from the look-out, the dust and black smoke Where Chinese troops are camping, north of Wheel Tower. ...Our flags now beckon the General farther west- With bugles in the dawn he rouses his Grand Army; Drums like a tempest pound on four sides And the Yin Mountains shake with the shouts of ten thousand; Clouds and the war-wind whirl up in a point Over fields where grass-roots will tighten around white bones; In the Dagger River mist, through a biting wind, Horseshoes, at the Sand Mouth line, break on icy boulders. ...Our General endures every pain, every hardship, Commanded to settle the dust along the border. We have read, in the Green Books, tales of old days- But here we behold a living man, mightier than the dead.

059
七言古詩
岑參
白雪歌送武判官歸京
北風捲地白草折， 胡天八月即飛雪； 忽如一夜春風來， 千樹萬樹梨花開。 散入珠簾濕羅幕， 狐裘不煖錦衾薄。 將軍角弓不得控， 都護鐵衣冷猶著。 瀚海闌干百丈冰， 愁雲黲淡萬里凝。 中軍置酒飲歸客， 胡琴琵琶與羌笛。 紛紛暮雪下轅門， 風掣紅旗凍不翻。 輪臺東門送君去， 去時雪滿天山路； 山迴路轉不見君， 雪上空留馬行處。

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Cen Can
A SONG OF WHITE SNOW IN FAREWELL TO FIELD-CLERK WU GOING HOME
The north wind rolls the white grasses and breaks them; And the Eighth-month snow across the Tartar sky Is like a spring gale, come up in the night, Blowing open the petals of ten thousand peartrees. It enters the pearl blinds, it wets the silk curtains; A fur coat feels cold, a cotton mat flimsy; Bows become rigid, can hardly be drawn And the metal of armour congeals on the men; The sand-sea deepens with fathomless ice, And darkness masses its endless clouds; But we drink to our guest bound home from camp, And play him barbarian lutes, guitars, harps; Till at dusk, when the drifts are crushing our tents And our frozen red flags cannot flutter in the wind, We watch him through Wheel-Tower Gate going eastward. Into the snow-mounds of Heaven-Peak Road.... And then he disappears at the turn of the pass, Leaving behind him only hoof-prints.

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？ 後有韋諷前支盾。 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。
又作遁

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.

061
七言古詩
杜甫
丹青引贈曹霸將軍
將軍魏武之子孫， 於今為庶為青門； 英雄割據雖已矣！ 文采風流今尚存。 學書初學衛夫人， 但恨無過王右軍。 丹青不知老將至， 富貴於我如浮雲。 開元之中常引見， 承恩數上南熏殿， 凌煙功臣少顏色， 將軍下筆開生面。 良相頭上進賢冠， 猛將腰間大羽箭。 褒公鄂公毛髮動， 英姿颯爽猶酣戰。 先帝天馬玉花驄， 畫工如山貌不同。 是日牽來赤墀下， 迥立閶闔生長風。 詔謂將軍拂絹素， 意匠慘淡經營中； 斯須九重真龍出， 一洗萬古凡馬空。 玉花卻在御榻上， 榻上庭前屹相向； 至尊含笑催賜金， 圉人太僕皆惆悵， 弟子韓幹早入室， 亦能畫馬窮殊相； 幹惟畫肉不畫骨， 忍使驊騮氣凋喪。 將軍畫善蓋有神， 偶逢佳士亦寫真； 即今漂泊干戈際， 屢貌尋常行路人。 塗窮反遭俗眼白， 世上未有如公貧； 但看古來盛名下， 終日坎壈纏其身。
又作途

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Du Fu
A SONG OF A PAINTING TO GENERAL CAO
O General, descended from Wei's Emperor Wu, You are nobler now than when a noble.... Conquerors and their valour perish, But masters of beauty live forever. ...With your brush-work learned from Lady Wei And second only to Wang Xizhi's, Faithful to your art, you know no age, Letting wealth and fame drift by like clouds. ...In the years of Kaiyuan you were much with the Emperor, Accompanied him often to the Court of the South Wind. When the spirit left great statesmen, on walls of the Hall of Fame The point of your brush preserved their living faces. You crowned all the premiers with coronets of office; You fitted all commanders with arrows at their girdles; You made the founders of this dynasty, with every hair alive, Seem to be just back from the fierceness of a battle. ...The late Emperor had a horse, known as Jade Flower, Whom artists had copied in various poses. They led him one day to the red marble stairs With his eyes toward the palace in the deepening air. Then, General, commanded to proceed with your work, You centred all your being on a piece of silk. And later, when your dragon-horse, born of the sky, Had banished earthly horses for ten thousand generations, There was one Jade Flower standing on the dais And another by the steps, and they marvelled at each other.... The Emperor rewarded you with smiles and with gifts, While officers and men of the stud hung about and stared. ...Han Gan, your follower, has likewise grown proficient At representing horses in all their attitudes; But picturing the flesh, he fails to draw the bone- So that even the finest are deprived of their spirit. You, beyond the mere skill, used your art divinely- And expressed, not only horses, but the life of a good man.... Yet here you are, wandering in a world of disorder And sketching from time to time some petty passerby People note your case with the whites of their eyes. There's nobody purer, there's nobody poorer. ...Read in the records, from earliest times, How hard it is to be a great artist.

062
七言古詩
杜甫
寄韓諫議
今我不樂思岳陽， 身欲奮飛病在床。 美人娟娟隔秋水， 濯足洞庭望八荒。 鴻飛冥冥日月白， 青楓葉赤天雨霜。 玉京群帝集北斗， 或騎麒麟翳鳳凰。 芙蓉旌旗煙霧落， 影動倒景搖瀟湘。 星宮之君醉瓊漿， 羽人稀少不在旁。 似聞昨者赤松子， 恐是漢代韓張良； 昔隨劉氏定長安， 帷幄未改神慘傷。 國家成敗吾豈敢？ 色難腥腐餐楓香。 周南留滯古所惜， 南極老人應壽昌。 美人胡為隔秋水？ 焉得置之貢玉堂。

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Du Fu
A LETTER TO CENSOR HAN
I am sad. My thoughts are in Youzhou. I would hurry there-but I am sick in bed. ...Beauty would be facing me across the autumn waters. Oh, to wash my feet in Lake Dongting and see at its eight corners Wildgeese flying high, sun and moon both white, Green maples changing to red in the frosty sky, Angels bound for the Capital of Heaven, near the North Star, Riding, some of them phrenixes, and others unicorns, With banners of hibiscus and with melodies of mist, Their shadows dancing upside-down in the southern rivers, Till the Queen of the Stars, drowsy with her nectar, Would forget the winged men on either side of her! ...From the Wizard of the Red Pine this word has come for me: That after his earlier follower he has now a new disciple Who, formerly at the capital as Emperor Liu's adviser, In spite of great successes, never could be happy. ...What are a country's rise and fall? Can flesh-pots be as fragrant as mountain fruit?.... I grieve that he is lost far away in the south. May the star of long life accord him its blessing! ...O purity, to seize you from beyond the autumn waters And to place you as an offering in the Court of Imperial Jade.

063
七言古詩
杜甫
古柏行
孔明廟前有老柏， 柯如青銅根如石； 雙皮溜雨四十圍， 黛色參天二千尺。 君臣已與時際會， 樹木猶為人愛惜。 雲來氣接巫峽長， 月出寒通雪山白。 憶昨路繞錦亭東， 先主武侯同閟宮。 崔嵬枝幹郊原古， 窈窕丹青戶牖空。 落落盤踞雖得地， 冥冥孤高多烈風。 扶持自是神明力， 正直元因造化功。 大廈如傾要梁棟， 萬牛迴首丘山重。 不露文章世已驚， 未辭剪伐誰能送？ 苦心豈免容螻蟻？ 香葉終經宿鸞鳳。 志士幽人莫怨嗟， 古來材大難為用。
又作霜
又作原

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Du Fu
A SONG OF AN OLD CYPRESS
Beside the Temple of the Great Premier stands an ancient cypress With a trunk of green bronze and a root of stone. The girth of its white bark would be the reach of forty men And its tip of kingfish-blue is two thousand feet in heaven. Dating from the days of a great ruler's great statesman, Their very tree is loved now and honoured by the people. Clouds come to it from far away, from the Wu cliffs, And the cold moon glistens on its peak of snow. ...East of the Silk Pavilion yesterday I found The ancient ruler and wise statesman both worshipped in one temple, Whose tree, with curious branches, ages the whole landscape In spite of the fresh colours of the windows and the doors. And so firm is the deep root, so established underground, That its lone lofty boughs can dare the weight of winds, Its only protection the Heavenly Power, Its only endurance the art of its Creator. Though oxen sway ten thousand heads, they cannot move a mountain. ...When beams are required to restore a great house, Though a tree writes no memorial, yet people understand That not unless they fell it can use be made of it.... Its bitter heart may be tenanted now by black and white ants, But its odorous leaves were once the nest of phoenixes and pheasants. ...Let wise and hopeful men harbour no complaint. The greater the timber, the tougher it is to use.

064
七言古詩
杜甫
觀公孫大娘弟子舞劍器行并序
大歷二年十月十九日夔府別駕元持宅見臨潁李十二 娘舞劍器，壯其蔚跂。問其所師，曰︰余公孫大娘 弟子也。開元三載，余尚童稚，記於郾城觀公孫氏 舞劍器渾脫。瀏灕頓挫，獨出冠時。自高頭宜春梨 園二伎坊內人，洎外供奉，曉是舞者，聖文神武皇 帝初，公孫一人而已。玉貌錦衣，況余白首！今茲 弟子亦匪盛顏。既辨其由來，知波瀾莫二。撫事慷 慨，聊為劍器行。昔者吳人張旭善草書書帖，數嘗 於鄴縣見公孫大娘舞西河劍器，自此草書長進，豪 蕩感激。即公孫可知矣！
昔有佳人公孫氏， 一舞劍器動四方。 觀者如山色沮喪， 天地為之久低昂。 霍如羿射九日落， 矯如群帝驂龍翔， 來如雷霆收震怒， 罷如江海凝清光。 絳唇珠袖兩寂寞， 晚有弟子傳芬芳。 臨潁美人在白帝， 妙舞此曲神揚揚。 與余問答既有以， 感時撫事增惋傷。 先帝侍女八千人， 公孫劍器初第一。 五十年間似反掌， 風塵澒洞昏王室。 梨園子弟散如煙， 女樂餘姿映寒日。 金粟堆前木已拱， 瞿塘石城草蕭瑟。 玳筵急管曲復終， 樂極哀來月東出。 老夫不知其所往？ 足繭荒山轉愁疾。

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Du Fu
A SONG OF DAGGER-DANCING TO A GIRL-PUPIL OF LADY GONGSUN
On the 19th of the Tenth-month in the second year of Dali, I saw, in the house of the Kueifu official Yuante, a girl named Li from Lingying dancing with a dagger. I admired her skill and asked who was her teacher. She named Lady Gongsun. I remembered that in the third year of Kaiyuan at Yancheng, when I was a little boy, I saw Lady Gongsun dance. She was the only one in the Imperial Theatre who could dance with this weapon. Now she is aged and unknown, and even her pupil has passed the heyday of beauty. I wrote this poem to express my wistfulness. The work of Zhang Xu of the Wu district, that great master of grassy writing, was improved by his having been present when Lady Gongsun danced in the Yeh district. From this may be judged the art of Gongsun.
There lived years ago the beautiful Gongsun, Who, dancing with her dagger, drew from all four quarters An audience like mountains lost among themselves. Heaven and earth moved back and forth, following her motions, Which were bright as when the Archer shot the nine suns down the sky And rapid as angels before the wings of dragons. She began like a thunderbolt, venting its anger, And ended like the shining calm of rivers and the sea.... But vanished are those red lips and those pearly sleeves; And none but this one pupil bears the perfume of her fame, This beauty from Lingying, at the Town of the White God, Dancing still and singing in the old blithe way. And while we reply to each other's questions, We sigh together, saddened by changes that have come. There were eight thousand ladies in the late Emperor's court, But none could dance the dagger-dance like Lady Gongsun. ...Fifty years have passed, like the turning of a palm; Wind and dust, filling the world, obscure the Imperial House. Instead of the Pear-Garden Players, who have blown by like a mist, There are one or two girl-musicians now-trying to charm the cold Sun. There are man-size trees by the Emperor's Golden Tomb I seem to hear dead grasses rattling on the cliffs of Qutang. ...The song is done, the slow string and quick pipe have ceased. At the height of joy, sorrow comes with the eastern moon rising. And I, a poor old man, not knowing where to go, Must harden my feet on the lone hills, toward sickness and despair.

065
七言古詩
元結
石魚湖上醉歌并序
漫叟以公田米釀酒，因休暇，則載酒於湖上， 時取一醉；歡醉中，據湖岸，引臂向魚取酒， 使舫載之，遍飲坐者。意疑倚巴丘，酌於君山 之上，諸子環洞庭而坐，酒舫泛泛然，觸波濤 而往來者，乃作歌以長之。
石魚湖， 似洞庭， 夏水欲滿君山青。 山為樽， 水為沼， 酒徒歷歷坐洲鳥。 長風連日作大浪， 不能廢人運酒舫。 我持長瓢坐巴丘， 酌飲四座以散愁。
又作島

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Yuan Jie
A DRINKING SONG AT STONE-FISH LAKE
I have used grain from the public fields, for distilling wine. After my office hours I have the wine loaded on a boat and then I seat my friends on the bank of the lake. The little wine-boats come to each of us and supply us with wine. We seem to be drinking on Pa Islet in Lake Dongting. And I write this poem.
Stone-Fish Lake is like Lake Dongting -- When the top of Zun is green and the summer tide is rising. ...With the mountain for a table, and the lake a fount of wine, The tipplers all are settled along the sandy shore. Though a stiff wind for days has roughened the water, Wine-boats constantly arrive.... I have a long-necked gourd and, happy on Ba Island, I am pouring a drink in every direction doing away with care.

066
七言古詩
韓愈
山石
山石犖确行徑微， 黃昏到寺蝙蝠飛。 升堂坐階新雨足， 芭蕉葉大梔子肥。 僧言古壁佛畫好， 以火來照所見稀。 鋪床拂席置羹飯， 疏糲亦足飽我飢。 夜深靜臥百蟲絕， 清月出嶺光入扉。 天明獨去無道路， 出入高下窮煙霏。 山紅澗碧紛爛漫， 時見松櫪皆十圍。 當流赤足蹋澗石， 水聲激激風吹衣。 人生如此自可樂， 豈必局束為人鞿？ 嗟哉吾黨二三子， 安得至老不更歸？

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Han Yu
MOUNTAIN-STONES
Rough were the mountain-stones, and the path very narrow; And when I reached the temple, bats were in the dusk. I climbed to the hall, sat on the steps, and drank the rain- washed air Among the round gardenia-pods and huge bananaleaves. On the old wall, said the priest, were Buddhas finely painted, And he brought a light and showed me, and I called them wonderful He spread the bed, dusted the mats, and made my supper ready, And, though the food was coarse, it satisfied my hunger. At midnight, while I lay there not hearing even an insect, The mountain moon with her pure light entered my door.... At dawn I left the mountain and, alone, lost my way: In and out, up and down, while a heavy mist Made brook and mountain green and purple, brightening everything. I am passing sometimes pines and oaks, which ten men could not girdle, I am treading pebbles barefoot in swift-running water -- Its ripples purify my ear, while a soft wind blows my garments.... These are the things which, in themselves, make life happy. Why should we be hemmed about and hampered with people? O chosen pupils, far behind me in my own country, What if I spent my old age here and never went back home?

067
七言古詩
韓愈
八月十五夜贈張功曹
纖雲四捲天無河， 清風吹空月舒波。 沙平水息聲影絕， 一杯相屬君當歌。 君歌聲酸辭且苦， 不能聽終淚如雨。 洞庭連天九疑高， 蛟龍出沒猩鼯號。 十生九死到官所， 幽居默默如藏逃。 下床畏蛇食畏藥， 海氣濕蟄熏腥臊。 昨者州前槌大鼓， 嗣皇繼聖登夔皋。 赦書一日行萬里， 罪從大辟皆除死。 遷者追回流者還， 滌瑕蕩垢清朝班。 州家申名使家抑， 坎軻祇得移荊蠻。 判司卑官不堪說， 未免捶楚塵埃間。 同時輩流多上道， 天路幽險難追攀。 君歌且休聽我歌， 我歌今與君殊科。 一年明月今宵多， 人生由命非由他； 有酒不飲奈明何？

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Han Yu
ON THE FESTIVAL OF THE MOON TO SUB-OFFICIAL ZHANG
The fine clouds have opened and the River of Stars is gone, A clear wind blows across the sky, and the moon widens its wave, The sand is smooth, the water still, no sound and no shadow, As I offer you a cup of wine, asking you to sing. But so sad is this song of yours and so bitter your voice That before I finish listening my tears have become a rain: "Where Lake Dongting is joined to the sky by the lofty Nine-Doubt Mountain, Dragons, crocodiles, rise and sink, apes, flying foxes, whimper.... At a ten to one risk of death, I have reached my official post, Where lonely I live and hushed, as though I were in hiding. I leave my bed, afraid of snakes; I eat, fearing poisons; The air of the lake is putrid, breathing its evil odours.... Yesterday, by the district office, the great drum was announcing The crowning of an emperor, a change in the realm. The edict granting pardons runs three hundred miles a day, All those who were to die have had their sentences commuted, The unseated are promoted and exiles are recalled, Corruptions are abolished, clean officers appointed. My superior sent my name in but the governor would not listen And has only transferred me to this barbaric place. My rank is very low and useless to refer to; They might punish me with lashes in the dust of the street. Most of my fellow exiles are now returning home -- A journey which, to me, is a heaven beyond climbing." ...Stop your song, I beg you, and listen to mine, A song that is utterly different from yours: "Tonight is the loveliest moon of the year. All else is with fate, not ours to control; But, refusing this wine, may we choose more tomorrow?"

068
七言古詩
韓愈
謁衡嶽廟遂宿嶽寺題門樓
五嶽祭秩皆三公， 四方環鎮嵩當中。 火維地荒足妖怪， 天假神柄專其雄。 噴雲泄霧藏半腹， 雖有絕頂誰能窮？ 我來正逢秋雨節， 陰氣晦昧無清風。 潛心默禱若有應， 豈非正直能感通？ 須臾靜掃眾峰出， 仰見突兀撐青空。 紫蓋連延接天柱， 石廩騰擲堆祝融。 森然魄動下馬拜， 松柏一逕趨靈宮。 紛牆丹柱動光彩， 鬼物圖畫填青紅。 升階傴僂薦脯酒， 欲以菲薄明其衷。 廟內老人識神意， 睢盱偵伺能鞠躬。 手持盃珓導我擲， 云此最吉餘難同。 竄逐蠻荒幸不死， 衣食纔足甘長終。 侯王將相望久絕， 神縱欲福難為功。 夜投佛寺上高閣， 星月掩映雲曈曨。 猿鳴鐘動不知曙， 杲杲寒日生於東。

Seven-character-quatrain
Han Yu
STOPPING AT A TEMPLE ON HENG MOUNTAIN I INSCRIBE THIS POEM IN THE GATE-TOWER
The five Holy Mountains have the rank of the Three Dukes. The other four make a ring, with the Song Mountain midmost. To this one, in the fire-ruled south, where evil signs are rife, Heaven gave divine power, ordaining it a peer. All the clouds and hazes are hidden in its girdle; And its forehead is beholden only by a few. ...I came here in autumn, during the rainy season, When the sky was overcast and the clear wind gone. I quieted my mind and prayed, hoping for an answer; For assuredly righteous thinking reaches to high heaven. And soon all the mountain-peaks were showing me their faces; I looked up at a pinnacle that held the clean blue sky: The wide Purple-Canopy joined the Celestial Column; The Stone Granary leapt, while the Fire God stood still. Moved by this token, I dismounted to offer thanks. A long path of pine and cypress led to the temple. Its white walls and purple pillars shone, and the vivid colour Of gods and devils filled the place with patterns of red and blue. I climbed the steps and, bending down to sacrifice, besought That my pure heart might be welcome, in spite of my humble offering. The old priest professed to know the judgment of the God: He was polite and reverent, making many bows. He handed me divinity-cups, he showed me how to use them And told me that my fortune was the very best of all. Though exiled to a barbarous land, mine is a happy life. Plain food and plain clothes are all I ever wanted. To be prince, duke, premier, general, was never my desire; And if the God would bless me, what better could he grant than this ? -- At night I lie down to sleep in the top of a high tower; While moon and stars glimmer through the darkness of the clouds.... Apes call, a bell sounds. And ready for dawn I see arise, far in the east the cold bright sun.
069
七言古詩
韓愈
石鼓歌
張生手持石鼓文， 勸我識作石鼓歌。 少陵無人謫仙死， 才薄將奈石鼓何？ 周綱淩遲四海沸， 宣王憤起揮天戈； 大開明堂受朝賀， 諸侯劍佩鳴相磨。 蒐于岐陽騁雄俊， 萬里禽獸皆遮羅。 鐫功勒成告萬世， 鑿石作鼓隳嵯峨。 從臣才藝咸第一， 揀選撰刻留山阿。 雨淋日炙野火燎， 鬼物守護煩撝呵。 公從何處得紙本？ 毫髮盡備無差訛。 辭嚴義密讀難曉， 字體不類隸與蝌。 年深豈免有缺畫？ 快劍砍斷生蛟鼉。 鸞翔鳳翥眾仙下， 珊瑚碧樹交枝柯。 金繩鐵索鎖鈕壯， 古鼎躍水龍騰梭。 陋儒編詩不收入， 二雅褊迫無委蛇。 孔子西行不到秦， 掎摭星宿遺羲娥。 嗟予好古生苦晚， 對此涕淚雙滂沱。 憶昔初蒙博士徵， 其年始改稱元和。 故人從軍在右輔， 為我度量掘臼科。 濯冠沐浴告祭酒， 如此至寶存豈多？ 氈包席裹可立致， 十鼓祇載數駱駝。 薦諸太廟比郜鼎， 光價豈止百倍過。 聖恩若許留太學， 諸生講解得切磋。 觀經鴻都尚填咽， 坐見舉國來奔波。 剜苔剔蘚露節角， 安置妥帖平不頗。 大廈深簷與蓋覆， 經歷久遠期無佗。 中朝大官老於事， 詎肯感激徒媕婀？ 牧童敲火牛礪角， 誰復著手為摩挲？ 日銷月鑠就埋沒， 六年西顧空吟哦。 羲之俗書趁姿媚， 數紙尚可博白鵝。 繼周八代爭戰罷， 無人收拾理則那。 方今太平日無事， 柄任儒術崇丘軻。 安能以此上論列？ 願借辯口如懸河。 石鼓之歌止於此， 嗚呼吾意其蹉跎。

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Han Yu
A POEM ON THE STONE DRUMS
Chang handed me this tracing, from the stone drums, Beseeching me to write a poem on the stone drums. Du Fu has gone. Li Bai is dead. What can my poor talent do for the stone drums? ...When the Zhou power waned and China was bubbling, Emperor Xuan, up in wrath, waved his holy spear: And opened his Great Audience, receiving all the tributes Of kings and lords who came to him with a tune of clanging weapons. They held a hunt in Qiyang and proved their marksmanship: Fallen birds and animals were strewn three thousand miles. And the exploit was recorded, to inform new generations.... Cut out of jutting cliffs, these drums made of stone- On which poets and artisans, all of the first order, Had indited and chiselled-were set in the deep mountains To be washed by rain, baked by sun, burned by wildfire, Eyed by evil spirits; and protected by the gods. ...Where can he have found the tracing on this paper? -- True to the original, not altered by a hair, The meaning deep, the phrases cryptic, difficult to read. And the style of the characters neither square nor tadpole. Time has not yet vanquished the beauty of these letters -- Looking like sharp daggers that pierce live crocodiles, Like phoenix-mates dancing, like angels hovering down, Like trees of jade and coral with interlocking branches, Like golden cord and iron chain tied together tight, Like incense-tripods flung in the sea, like dragons mounting heaven. Historians, gathering ancient poems, forgot to gather these, To make the two Books of Musical Song more colourful and striking; Confucius journeyed in the west, but not to the Qin Kingdom, He chose our planet and our stars but missed the sun and moon I who am fond of antiquity, was born too late And, thinking of these wonderful things, cannot hold back my tears.... I remember, when I was awarded my highest degree, During the first year of Yuanho, How a friend of mine, then at the western camp, Offered to assist me in removing these old relics. I bathed and changed, then made my plea to the college president And urged on him the rareness of these most precious things. They could be wrapped in rugs, be packed and sent in boxes And carried on only a few camels: ten stone drums To grace the Imperial Temple like the Incense-Pot of Gao -- Or their lustre and their value would increase a hundredfold, If the monarch would present them to the university, Where students could study them and doubtless decipher them, And multitudes, attracted to the capital of culture Prom all corners of the Empire, would be quick to gather. We could scour the moss, pick out the dirt, restore the original surface, And lodge them in a fitting and secure place for ever, Covered by a massive building with wide eaves Where nothing more might happen to them as it had before. ...But government officials grow fixed in their ways And never will initiate beyond old precedent; So herd- boys strike the drums for fire, cows polish horns on them, With no one to handle them reverentially. Still ageing and decaying, soon they may be effaced. Six years I have sighed for them, chanting toward the west.... The familiar script of Wang Xizhi, beautiful though it was, Could be had, several pages, just for a few white geese, But now, eight dynasties after the Zhou, and all the wars over, Why should there be nobody caring for these drums? The Empire is at peace, the government free. Poets again are honoured and Confucians and Mencians.... Oh, how may this petition be carried to the throne? It needs indeed an eloquent flow, like a cataract- But, alas, my voice has broken, in my song of the stone drums, To a sound of supplication choked with its own tears.

070
七言古詩
柳宗元
漁翁
漁翁夜傍西巖宿， 曉汲清湘燃楚燭。 煙銷日出不見人， 欸乃一聲山水綠。 迴看天際下中流， 巖上無心雲相逐。

Seven-character-ancient-verse
Liu Zongyuan
AN OLD FISHERMAN
An old fisherman spent the night here, under the western cliff; He dipped up water from the pure Hsiang and made a bamboo fire; And then, at sunrise, he went his way through the cloven mist, With only the creak of his paddle left, in the greenness of mountain and river. ...I turn and see the waves moving as from heaven, And clouds above the cliffs coming idly, one by one.