English Translation of Chinese Poetry

I translated some Chinese verses into English, and I hope it can make you know more about Chinese culture. 

山有木兮木有枝,心悦君兮君不知。
O, on the hills the trees grow,
on the trees the boughs grow,
and my heart goes to you,
but you do not know.

汉之广矣,不可泳思。江之永矣,不可方思。
Ah, how wide the Han is,
I cannot swim across.
Ah, how strong the Yangtze is,
I cannot sail across.

青青子衿,悠悠我心。
纵我不往,子宁不嗣音?

青青子佩,悠悠我思。
纵我不往,子宁不来?

挑兮达兮,在城阙兮。
一日不见,如三月兮!

O thou, with the blue collar,
So panteth my heart after thee, my dear.
Even though I do not go,
Why don’t thou send a word?

O thou, with the blue belt,
So panteth my mind after thee, my dear.
Even though I do not go,
Why don’t thou come?

O up here on the city wall,
I am pacing back and forth.
If I don’t see thee one single day,
it is like three months!

有美一人,清扬婉兮。
邂逅相遇,适我愿兮。
There is a beautiful lady;
How charming her liquid eyes are.
We meet together unexpectedly;
O she is the one after my heart.

袅袅兮秋风,洞庭波兮木叶下。
O sighing softly,
The autumn breeze;
On the ripples of Dongting Lake,
The fallen leaves.

沅有茝兮澧有兰,思公子兮未敢言。
O, angelicas grow by River Yuan and orchids by River Li,
I long for thee but dare not speak.

出不入兮往不反,平原忽兮路超远。
O once they came out, they do not return;
O the plain extensive, and the way back in distant.

秋风起兮白云飞,草木黄落兮雁南归。
兰有秀兮菊有芳,怀佳人兮不能忘。
O the autumn wind rises and clouds fly away,
Grass and trees wither and geese go southward way.
O orchids bloom and chrysanthemums smell fragrant,
I am missing my lovely lady, who I can never forget. 

有一美人兮,见之不忘。
一日不见兮,思之如狂。
O there is a fair lady,
who stamped in my mind indelibly.
If I don’t see her one single day,
I miss her crazily.

泻水置平地,各自东西南北流。
人生亦有命,安能行叹复坐愁!
酌酒以自宽,举杯断绝歌路难。
心非木石岂无感?吞声踯躅不敢言。
Pouring water on the ground, it flows all around.
Life also has its destiny, how can we sigh and sorrow all along!
Drinking some wine to comfort myself, but it interrupts my singing of “hard way” when drinking.
My heart is not wood or stone, how can I have no feelings?
Yet I bite my tongue and hang back, not daring to say anything.

今人不见古时月,
今月曾经照古人。
People today do not see the moon of yore;
The moon today did light the people of yore.

尔曹身与名俱灭,
不废江河万古流。
Even both yer bodies and fame are ruined,
it won’t stop the eternal flow of rivers. 

章台柳,章台柳,昔日青青今在否?
纵使长条似旧垂,也应攀折他人手。
Zhang tai willow, Zhang tai willow,
Once so verdant thou were,
Are thou still there as before?
Even thy tendrils hang down as yore,
it might be plucked by other people. 

阶下青苔与红树,
雨中寥落月中愁。
Down the steps are green moss and red trees,
They were sparse in the rain and sorrow in the moon.

枫叶千枝复万枝,江桥掩映暮帆迟。
忆君心似西江水,日夜东流无歇时。
In late autumn, thousands of maple leaves cover layer by layer.
Covering the river bridge, where the late sails appear.
Missing thee, my mind runs like the water in West River,
flowing eastward day and night, forever.

天不老,情难绝。心似双丝网,中有千千结。
夜过也,东窗未白凝残月。(或作:东窗未白孤灯灭)
Heaven is immortal, and love is inexhaustible.
My heart is like the twined net, tied with thousands of knots.
The night was gone, and the east window is not light yet, with the waning moon still (or: with the lonely lamp dies).

桃李春风一杯酒,江湖夜雨十年灯。
Enjoying peaches and plums, in spring breezes, we drank a cup of wine together.
Parted by rivers and lakes, on rainy nights, I faced the lamp alone for ten years.

月儿弯弯照九州,
几家欢乐几家愁。
几家夫妇同罗帐,
几个飘零在外头?
A curvy moon is shining over Cathay.
How many families are joyous and how many are dismayed?
How many couples are living together?
Yet how many are drifting far away?

鹏北海,凤朝阳,又携书剑路茫茫。
As the roc rousing from the northern ocean, as the phoenix flying towards the rising sun, you are carrying books and the sword facing the boundless road.

车遥遥,马憧憧。
君游东山东复东,安得奋飞逐西风。
愿我如星君如月,夜夜流光相皎洁。
月暂晦,星常明。
留明待月复,三五共盈盈。
The carriage travels far away,
the shadow of horses sways.
Thou travel east to the east of the east mountain.
How can thou gallop to chase the west wind?
May I be the star and thou be the moon.
Every night, together, we shining bright.
Though the moon might dim for some time,
the star will always be bright.
Wait until thou waxing again,
glittering brilliantly, thou and I.

城上斜阳画角哀,沈园非复旧池台。
伤心桥下春波绿,曾是惊鸿照影来。
In the setting sun, the horns on the city wall are grieving.
O Shen garden no longer has the pavilions of the yore.
Under my heartbroken bridge, the waters are still green.
Once, thy stunning shadow has been here before.

万花敢向雪中出,一树独先天下春。
Thousands of flowers dare to bloom in the snow,
One tree heralds inimitably, and the whole world is in spring.

别人笑我太疯癫,我笑他人看不穿。
Others are teasing me too insane; I am laughing that they don’t understand.

无限山河泪,谁言天地宽?
Innumerable tears flow for the land lost.
Who dares to say the world is vast?

几回花下坐吹箫,银汉红墙入望遥。
似此星辰非昨夜,为谁风露立中宵?
缠绵思尽抽残茧,宛转心伤剥后蕉。
三五年时三五月,可怜杯酒不曾消。
Many as the time I sat under flowers playing the pipe.
The red wall seems to be as far as the galaxy in sight.
These stars are not the same as last night.
Yet for whom have I stood in winds till midnight?
My lingering mind exhausts like a cocoon after reel.
My moving heart breaks like a plantain after peel.
O fifteen was thee at that fifteenth-day full-moon night.
Now lament is I cannot drown sorrow with this cup of wine.

持续更新中……  Continuous Update…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *