Skip to main content

Farewell to a Lofty Monk

Farewell to a Lofty Monk

 
Liu Changqing (709-785)
 
 
A lofty cloud has met a common crane,
But how to live together in this land?
Don’t stay out here, though filled with fertile hills,
So many know this place, like grains of sand.
 
 
Chinese
 
送上人
劉長卿
 
孤雲將野鶴
豈向人間住
莫買沃洲山
時人已知處
Pronunciation
 
Reviews
No reviews yet.

The Lute Player

The Lute Player

 
Liu Changqing (709-785)
 
 
As water flows, your lute of seven strings . . .
I hear the wind between the winter pines.
You pull an ancient tune that, though I love,
The players now can hardly play the lines.
 
 
Chinese
 
彈琴
劉長卿
 
泠泠七絃上
靜聽松風寒
古調雖自愛
今人多不彈
Pronunciation
 
Dàn Qín
Reviews
No reviews yet.

Sending Off Ling Che

Sending Off Ling Che

 
Liu Changqing (709-785)
 
 
A temple in the vast green bamboo grove
Resounds its bell within the depth and dusk;
The setting sun slopes down your bamboo hat,
As going back from these green hills, you must.
 
 
Chinese
 
送靈澈
劉長卿
 
蒼蒼竹林寺
杳杳鐘聲晚
荷笠帶斜陽
青山獨歸遠
Pronunciation
 
Reviews
No reviews yet.

Bitter Love

Bitter Love

 
Li Bai (701-762)
 
 
The beauty sits behind a jeweled screen,
Lamenting him with lovely, furled brows.
When all I see are cheeks stained wet with tears,
I wonder, where’s the one who broke his vows?
 
 

Reviews
No reviews yet.

Spring Dawn

Spring Dawn

 
Meng Haoran (689/691–740)
 
 
Asleep in spring, unconscious of the dawn,
The chirp chirp song of birds is everywhere.
Last night the thunder, wind, and rain came long—
How many blossoms now remain out there?
 
 
Chinese
 
春曉
孟 浩 然
 
春眠不覺曉
處處聞啼鳥
夜來風雨聲
花落知多少
Pronunciation
 
Chūn Xiǎo
Mèng Hàorán
Reviews
No reviews yet.

Farewell to Cui

Farewell to Cui

Pei Di (born ~ 714 A.D.)
 
 
On mountains steep and valleys deep
You’ll smile beyond the realm from there—
For just a day you’ll go that way,
To Peach Spring Garden, free of care.
 
 
Chinese
 
送崔九
裴迪
 
歸山深淺去
須盡丘壑美
莫學武陵人
暫遊桃源裡
Pronunciation
 
Sòng Cuī Jiǔ
Péi Dí
Reviews
No reviews yet.

Gazing at Zhongnan’s Snow

Gazing at Zhongnan’s Snow

Zu Yong (699-746?)
 
 
As snow on Zhongnan Mountain floats in blooms
To form beyond the peak in cloudy nets
The forest clears in brightly colored hues—
But in the town, the cold and darkness sets.
 
 
Chinese
 
終南望餘雪
祖詠
 
終南陰嶺秀
積雪浮雲端
林表明霽色
城中增暮寒
Pronunciation
 
Zhōng Nán Wàng Yú Xuě
Zǔ Yǒng
 
Reviews
No reviews yet.