船夜援琴 - 白居易 Night Zither on a Boat. Po Chu-I
鳥棲魚不動，Birds a-nest, fish inert,
夜月照江深。A moonlit night, befell the river deep
身外都無事，A silent world,
舟中只有琴。but for the zither upon the boat.
七絃為益友，My good friends - its seven strings,
兩耳是知音。And my ears know them well.
心靜聲即淡，My heart at ease, their sounds grow dim,
其間無古今。In this span of time, neither past nor present exists.
韋莊: 金陵圖 Wei Chuang: Paintings Of the Golden Mound
誰謂傷心畫不成 Sez who can’t paint the broken hearted successfully?
畫人心遂世人情 The artist merely follows the wishes of those patrons.
君看六幅南朝事 However, just look carefully upon each view from the Six Dynasties,
老木寒雲滿故城 Are but of ancient trees and clouds of cold engulfing this former capital.
Thursday, April 30, 2020
1.登金陵鳳凰台 Upon Ascending The
Phoenix Terrace of the Golden Mound
2.鳳凰台上鳳凰遊, Upon the Phoenix Terrace, phoenixes come and go,
2.鳳凰台上鳳凰遊, Upon the Phoenix Terrace, phoenixes come and go,
3.鳳去台空江自流.Phoenixes gone, the Terrace empty but the
river still in flow.
4.吳宮花草埋幽徑, Overgrown vegetation in the Wu Palace buries the quiet paths,
5.晉代衣冠成古丘. Gentry in the Age of Jin had become ancient graves.
6.三山半落青天外 Three Mountains halfway nestled in the blue sky yonder,
7.一水中分白鷺洲 One river into two the White Egret Islet divides in the middle.
8.總為浮雲能蔽日 And still because of floating clouds can obscure the sun,
9.長安不見使人愁 The City of Eternal Peace unseen, maketh one in sorrow.
1.Old name for Nanjing – the Southern Capital.
4.吳宮花草埋幽徑, Overgrown vegetation in the Wu Palace buries the quiet paths,
5.晉代衣冠成古丘. Gentry in the Age of Jin had become ancient graves.
6.三山半落青天外 Three Mountains halfway nestled in the blue sky yonder,
7.一水中分白鷺洲 One river into two the White Egret Islet divides in the middle.
8.總為浮雲能蔽日 And still because of floating clouds can obscure the sun,
9.長安不見使人愁 The City of Eternal Peace unseen, maketh one in sorrow.
1.Old name for Nanjing – the Southern Capital.
2.A terrace built on Mt. Phoenix, near the city of Nanjing.
3.Refers to the Yang Tze Kiang.
4.Eastern Wu, one dynasty during the Three Kingdoms Age
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Wu
5.Western Jin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_dynasty_(266%E2%80%93420) The original text uses “cap and gown”.
6. Name of a mountain near Nanjing, south west of the Yang Tze Kiang.
7. The 秦淮 river flows through Nanjing before emptying into the Yang Tze Kiang. Some other versions use 二 instead of 一.
8. The clouds denote the corrupt court officials and the sun denotes the Emperor Hsuan Tsung.
9. Changan, the capital of the Tang Dynasty.
Lines 4 -7 are two pairs of couplets and to keep the original flavor, I didn’t want to have it rhymed and destroy the original structure.
In 747AD, Li Po was let go by Emperor Hsuan Tsung and was given some gold to retire. The poet had high hopes of rising to the pinnacle of power because of his talent. However, the emperor had always treated him as a sort of entertainer for his poetry. He was not held in high regard because of his loose lips and only at his best when in total intoxication. Someone not to be taken seriously in official matters of highest security. To be fair to the emperor, in his eyes, Li Po is nothing but like a popstar of today.
11 May 2020
5.Western Jin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_dynasty_(266%E2%80%93420) The original text uses “cap and gown”.
6. Name of a mountain near Nanjing, south west of the Yang Tze Kiang.
7. The 秦淮 river flows through Nanjing before emptying into the Yang Tze Kiang. Some other versions use 二 instead of 一.
8. The clouds denote the corrupt court officials and the sun denotes the Emperor Hsuan Tsung.
9. Changan, the capital of the Tang Dynasty.
Lines 4 -7 are two pairs of couplets and to keep the original flavor, I didn’t want to have it rhymed and destroy the original structure.
In 747AD, Li Po was let go by Emperor Hsuan Tsung and was given some gold to retire. The poet had high hopes of rising to the pinnacle of power because of his talent. However, the emperor had always treated him as a sort of entertainer for his poetry. He was not held in high regard because of his loose lips and only at his best when in total intoxication. Someone not to be taken seriously in official matters of highest security. To be fair to the emperor, in his eyes, Li Po is nothing but like a popstar of today.
11 May 2020
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