Category: Poems by – 王維 (701-761)

《On Business》Wang Wei

輕陰閣小雨  In my cool bower I appreciate a rain fine
深院晝慵開  Waking from a good nape my mind opens wide
坐看蒼苔色  Sitting in quietude I watch the mosses green
欲上人衣來  Their beauty dyes my clothes in gleam

《An Autumn Night Song》Wang Wei

桂魄初生秋露微  The moon shines on fresh dews
輕羅已薄未更衣  She continues to wear thin robes still
銀箏夜久殷勤弄  She plays the silver lute repeatedly all night
心怯空房不忍歸  Afraid to return to her bower with no one in sight

下馬飲君酒    問君何所之
君言不得意    歸臥南山陲
但去莫複問    白雲無盡時

歸嵩山作            王維

清川帶長薄  車馬去閑閑
流水如有意  暮禽相與還
荒城臨古渡  落日滿秋山
迢遞嵩高下  歸來且閉關

Back Home to Mt. Song        Wang Wei (701-761) 江紹倫譯 

The stream quietly skirts a long stretch of green
Carriages on way to cots of leisurely dins
Limpid waters murmur friendly hints
Homeward birds glide with me in the evening

As the deserted town looks on the vacant pier
The autumn hills washed in sunset colours appear
Beneath the towering Mt.Song the land extent
Home I close my door and wash my hands

斜光照墟落  窮巷牛羊歸
野老念牧童  倚杖候荊扉
雉雊麥苗秀  蠶眠桑葉稀
田夫荷鋤至  相見語依依
即此羨閒逸  悵然吟《式微》

Home at River Wei  Wang Wei (701-761) 江紹倫譯

A village bathes in the sun’s slanting ray
Among the lanes homeward cattle find their way
Grandfather looking for the herd boy waits
He leans on a bamboo cane by the gate
Pheasants love to flock in the wheat fields
Where silkworms rest mulberry leaves become few
Hoes on shoulders farm hands proudly show
They meet and chat forgetting to go
For this rustic life I long
Humming my favorite Homily Song

楚塞三湘接  荊門九派通
江流天地外   山色有無中
郡邑浮前浦  波瀾動遠空
襄陽好風日   留醉與山翁 

A View from the Han River      Wang Wei (701-761) 江紹倫譯 

Ford Chu sits where the three rivers meet
Around Mt Jingmen nine tributaries compete
The Grand River surges transcending heaven and earth
Colours on the hills appear and fade as time goes forth
Towns and burghs emerge on banks yonder
Reaching far into distant space waves and tides thunder
Enchanting is the scenery of Xiangyang in a day so fine
A good time to get drunk with my old chum staying behind

山中相送罷
日暮掩柴扉
春草明年綠
王孫歸不歸

Parting       Wang Wei (701-761) 江紹倫譯 

Seeing you leave from up in the hills
I close my wicket door at dusk alone still
Spring grass will be green again next year
Will you return once again my dear

言入黄花川  每逐青溪水
随山将万转  趣途无百里
声喧乱石中  色静深松里
漾漾泛菱荇  澄澄映葭苇
我心素已闲  清川澹如此
请留盘石上 垂钓将已矣 

Blue Stream         Wang Wei ( 701-761) 江紹倫譯

Whenever I think of my Yellow Flower rill
I wade along its blue shallows at will
It meanders ten thousand turns along the mountain lea
Its course is but a thousand li
Through pebbles large and small it murmurs and sings
Deep through the pines its colour serene
Quietly the ripples churn following the cat-tail maze
Its pristine water mirrors reeds top to base
My mind simple and at peace
Just like the stream at ease
Here I’ll stay sitting on the boulder in the nook
And spend my life with rod and hook

晚年惟好靜  萬事不關心
自顧無長策  空知返舊林
松風吹解帶  山月照彈琴
君問窮通理  漁歌入浦深

A Response to Prefect Zhang     Wang Wei (701-761) 江紹倫譯 

In my old age I treasure quietude
World affairs I care nil
On self-reflection I had not a life plan in view
Enjoy to review past events fable and real
Breezes from among the pines set my sash free
I play my zither with moon and hills in peace
You ask for wisdom to attain success failure-free
Hear how fishermen up-stream sing at ease