中歲頗好道    晚家南山陲
興來每獨往    勝事空自知
行到水窮處    坐看雲起時
偶然值林叟    談笑無還期

Retirement at South Hill                   江紹倫譯

I became at mid-life a true believer of Dao
I retire to settle at the foot of South Hill when old
Here I loiter at will with not much in mind
And review in solitude the good deeds I’ve left behind
I saunter to where the mountain stream no longer flows
I sit waiting to watch rising clouds afloat
By chance I meet a firewood gatherer as I roam
We chat and cheer forgetting ’tis time to return home

明月幾時有 把酒問青天 不知天上宫闕
今夕是何年 我欲乘風歸去 又恐瓊樓玉宇
高處不勝寒 起舞弄清影 何似在人間

轉朱閣 低绮户 照無眠 不應有恨
何事長向别時圆 人有悲歡離合
月有陰晴圓缺 此事古難全
但願人長久 千里共嬋娟

Tune of “Prelude to Water melody” 江紹倫譯 

Whence will the moon shine this way again
I ask in earnest a wine-cup in hand
Where-in the palaces high up in sky
What year could it be tonight
I’d love to return there riding the wind
But I fear where these towers and jade palaces are in
The chill and altitude are too much for my liking
Dancing with my shadow in tow
I feel ’tis a better place here with people I know

In the ornate mansion red
Behind lowered drapes embroidery spread
Such glare kept me sleepless in bed
I should have no lingering spite or hate
O Moon why do you always shine when people separate
Among men sorrow joy separation or togetherness are but normal life state
For you Moon there are times of shade or shine fullness and wane
None had always been perfect since time immemorial 

Let’s keep our love true everlasting
And share the moon bright and trusting

 
Remembrance in Mid-Autumn – to the tune of “Barcarole Prelude”
translated by Father John Turner

“When did this glorious moon begin to be?’
Cup in hand, I asked of the azure sky:
And wondered in the palaces of the air
What calendar this night do they go by.
Yes, I would wish to mount the winds and wander there
At home; but dread those onyx towers and halls of jade
Set so immeasurably cold and high.
To tread a measure, to support with fleshless shade,
How alien to our frail mortality!

Her light round scarlet pavilion, ‘neath broidered screen, down streams
On me that sleepless lie.
Ah, vain indeed is my complaining:
But why must she beam at the full on those that sundered sigh?
As men have their weal and woe, their parting and meeting, it seems
The moon has her dark and light, her phases of fulness and waning.
Never is seen perfection things that die.
Yet would I crave one solitary boon:
Long be we linked with light of the fair moon
Over large leagues of distance, thou and I.

飲馬渡秋水  水寒風似刀
平沙日未沒  黯黯見臨洮
昔日長城戰   咸言意氣高
黃塵足今古   白骨亂蓬蒿

On the Front                                       江紹倫譯       

My horse had its drink while crossing the autumn river
With freezing water and sharp wind it felt like having a sword sever
On the dessert plain the sun was vivid after setting
In the gathering darkness I saw the distant town Lintao looming
Battles were waged at the Great Wall in by-gone days
What noble spirit past heroes had displayed
Events old and new now buried under sand no longer pertain
Where scanty weeds grow white bones remain

少小離鄉老大回      鄉音難改鬢毛衰
兒童相見不相識      笑問客從何處來

On Homecoming                                江紹倫譯

I left home while young and return in old age
My speech remains same while my scanty hair grows grey
Children here see me but know not my identity
Beaming they ask where I came originally

碧玉妝成一樹高      萬條垂下綠絲絛
不知細葉誰裁出      二月春風似剪刀

The Willow                             江紹倫譯

Emeralds adorn trees tall and green
Ten thousand hanging branches wavy and thin
Would you know who cared for these fine leaves
Spring winds in March as crisp as scissors

前不見古人             後不見來者
念天地之悠悠          獨愴然而涕下

Ascending Youzhou Tower      江紹倫譯

Great men of history are not seen here
Those to follow are yet to appear
The universe revolves in orderly motion
I stand here in tears feeling uncertain

嶺外音書斷             經冬複曆春
近鄉情更怯             不敢問來人

《Crossing the Han River 》                    江紹倫譯

In exile home messages in voice or writing are blocked absolutely
Through harsh winter and caring spring none comes successfully
I grow timid more and more as I step by step approach home
Dare I inquire what had happened these years and to whom

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

Farewell       Wang Wei                                                                       江紹倫譯

We dismounted our horses to have a cup of wine
I ask for your destination before we say good-bye
You say you have left your unhappy career aside
And on your way home where South Mount stands behind
I say not a word more as I see you on your way
Knowing well you’ll have no lack of white clouds for company where you stay