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,
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。
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.