水浒传: 浔阳楼题反诗 1 心在山东身在吴， 2 飘蓬江海谩嗟吁。 3 他时若遂凌云志， 4 敢笑黄巢不丈夫! Water Margin:  Writing a Poem of Rebellion at Xúnyáng Tavern 1 My heart's in Shandong though I'm in Wu, 2 Wandering hither thither uncomplaining; 3 One day when I've realised the heroic quest, 4 Dare you mock Huangchao that he's a weakling! Remarks: The poem is found in the novel Water Margin (or Outlaws of the Marsh) 水浒传, one of the four famous classical novels in China, written by Shi Nai'an 施耐庵 (1296-1371)​ of the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties. In the novel, Sòngjiāng 宋江, in a fit of uncontrollable emotion, wrote the poe ..read more

 苏轼 Sū Shì: 观潮 1 庐山烟雨浙江潮， 2 未至千般恨不消。 3 到得还来别无事， 4 庐山烟雨浙江潮。 Watching the Tidal Waves 1 Lushan in mist and Zhejiang's lashing waves, 2 Having not seen, a nagging longing stays; 3 Yet having  seen, they are but as they are, 4 Lushan in mist and Zhejiang's lashing waves. Remarks: Line 1:  庐山烟雨: Lushan (庐山), or the “Lu” mountain, is famous for its mist-shrouded (烟雨) peaks, to which many poems are dedicated and many paintings have it as their subject. 浙江潮: The river Zhejiang (浙江) is now known as Qiántáng jiāng  (钱塘江) located in Zhejiang province. The well known  tidal ..read more

葉清臣 Ye Qingchen - 寄調: 賀聖朝  題: 留別 1  滿斟綠醑留君住 2  莫匆匆歸去 3  三分春色二分愁 4  更一分風雨 5  花開花謝 6  都來幾許 7  且高歌休訴 8  不知來嵗牡丹時 9  再相逢何處 Tune: He Shen Cao (Homage to the Imperial Court) # Title: Farewell but Please Remain # 1  Filling your cup with fine wine I hope you will stay; 2  Do not leave in such haste I pray. 3  Three measures of spring…two are of melancholy; 4  While wind and rain, the third shall be. 5  Flowers bloom and then go; 6  How often will that be so? 7  So cease our grumbles and let us sing; 8  ..read more

改唐寅:一世歌 1  人生七十古来少  2  前除年少后除老  3  中间所剩亦不多 4  还有一半睡掉了 Adapted from Tang Yin’s 一世歌 (Song of One’s Life) (Author unknown) 1  Beyond seventy few live since  long ago; 2  Less childhood  and the years when we are old, 3  What is left is not much between the two; 4  And of that a large part to bed we go. Remarks: During those days, not many people lived beyond the age of seventy. If we subtract the years when we were kids and the years when we were senile, there were not many productive years left. And of these, a large part was sp ..read more

 劉方平 Liu Fangping: 月夜  1  更深月色半人家 2  北斗闌干南斗斜 3  今夜偏知春氣暖 4  蟲聲新透綠窗紗  A Moonlit Night  1  Deep in the night, houses lit in halves, the moon shines bright; 2  Across the sky, both north and south, the Dippers glow. 3  I feel the warmth of spring, suddenly,  this very night; 4  And hear the sounds of insects through the green gauze window. Remarks: I am unable to follow the rhyme scheme of AAXA and have produced something like ABAB.  Line 1: 更深 means ‘deep in the night.’ Line 2: 闌干 means ‘crisscross' or 'across' the sky ..read more

 吳錦祥 Ng Kam-Cheung Stephen: 無題  1 晚霞如火耀窗前 2 日落天邊海欲眠 3 朗月一輪隨夜上 4 無求無欲又明天 Untitled  1 A crimson evening, like fire, the window brightens; 2 At the sky's edge the sun sets, the sea feels asleep. 3 The circle of the clear moon rises as night deepens; 4 No wishes, no desires, again it's tomorrow. Pinyin: Wújǐnxiáng: Wútí  1 wǎnxiá rú huǒ yào chuāng qián  2 rìluò tiānbiān hǎi yù mián  3 lǎng yuè yīlún suí yè shàng  4 wú qiú wúyù yòu míngtiān Reference: https://chinesepoemsinenglish.blogspot.com/2022/03/ng-kam-cheung-untitled.html ..read more

 1   暖雨晴風初破凍  2   柳眼梅腮  3   已覺春心動  4   酒意詩情誰與共  5   淚融殘粉花鈿重  6   乍試夾衫金縷縫  7   山枕斜欹  8   枕損釵頭鳳  9   獨抱濃愁無好夢 10 夜闌猶剪燈花弄 Butterflies Love Flowers   1  The first warm showers and breezes break winter's cold,   2  Willows’ buds and plum blossoms,   3  The palpable stirrings of spring.   4  With whom to share my yearning for wine and poesy?   5  In tears my makeup melts, the headdress feels heavy.  6  I ..read more

 1  桃花坞里桃花庵，桃花庵下桃花仙。  2  桃花仙人种桃树，又摘桃花换酒钱。  3  酒醒只在花前坐，酒醉还来花下眠。  4  半醉半醒日复日，花落花开年复年。  5  但愿老死花酒间，不愿鞠躬车马前。  6  车尘马足富者趣，酒盏花枝贫者缘。  7  若将富贵比贫贱，一在平地一在天。  8  若将贫贱比车马，他得驱驰我得闲。  9  别人笑我太疯癫，我笑他人看不穿。 10 不见五陵豪杰墓，无花无酒锄作田。 Song of the Peach Blossom Hut  1a  At the peach blossom grove there's a hut,  1b  In the hut a fairy dwells;  2a  The fairy plants the peach blossoms,  2b  And for wine the flowers he plucks and sells.  3a  Sober he sits before the blossoms,  3 ..read more

1  秦时明月汉时关, 2  万里长征人未还。 3  但使龙城飞将在, 4  不教胡马度阴山。 Going to the Frontier 1  Forts, moon above, are as in the days of Han and Qin, 2  Soldiers, so far away, have long their home not seen; 3  And at Longcheng, as long as general Fei is there, 4  Galloping marauders won't dare cross the mountain Yin. Pinyin: Wángchānglíng: Chūsāi 1  Qín shí míngyuè hàn shí guān, 2  wànlǐ chángzhēng rén wèi huán, 3  Dàn shǐ lóng chéng fēi jiàng zài, 4  bù jiào hú mǎ dù yīnshān. Remarks: I tried to follow the same rhyme scheme AAXA. Line 1:  The line ..read more

1   寥落古行宮 2   宮花寂寞紅 3   白頭宮女在 4   閒坐說玄宗 The Outer Palace 1  The desolate old outer palace, 2  Lonely red flowers still blooming; 3  Court ladies, white haired, sit around, 4  Chatting idly about the dead King. Alternative translation 1  The desolate outer palace is home 2  To lonely red flowers that still bloom; 3  And court ladies, white haired, idly sit, 4  Chatting about emperor Xuanzong. Remarks: The rhyme scheme of the poem is AAXA but I could only manage XAXA for the translation. Line 1: 行宮 refers to a m ..read more