Since Wang Jun brought his towering ships down from Yizhou，
The royal ghost has pined in the city of Nanjing.
Ten thousand feet of iron chain were sunk here to the bottom-
And then came the flag of surrender on the Wall of Stone....
Cycles of change have moved into the past，
While still this mountain dignity has commanded the cold river；
And now comes the day of the Chinese world united，
And the old forts fill with ruin and with autumn reeds.
元稹
遣悲怀之一
谢公最小偏怜女， 自嫁黔娄百事乖。
顾我无衣搜荩箧， 泥他沽酒拔金钗。
野蔬充膳甘长藿， 落叶添薪仰古槐。
今日俸钱过十万， 与君营奠复营斋。
Yuan Zhen
An Elegy I
O youngest， bestloved daughter of Xie，
Who unluckily married this penniless scholar，
You patched my clothes from your own wicker basket，
And I coaxed off your hairpins of gold， to buy wine with；
For dinner we had to pick wild herbs-
And to use dry locustleaves for our kindling.
...Today they are paying me a hundred thousand-
And all that I can bring to you is a temple sacrifice.
元稹
遣悲怀之二
昔日戏言身后事， 今朝都到眼前来。
衣裳已施行看尽， 针线犹存未忍开。
尚想旧情怜婢仆， 也曾因梦送钱财。
诚知此恨人人有， 贫贱夫妻百事哀。
Yuan Zhen
AN Elegy II
We joked， long ago， about one of us dying，
But suddenly， before my eyes， you are gone.
Almost all your clothes have been given away；
Your needlework is sealed， I dare not look at it....
I continue your bounty to our men and our maids-
Sometimes， in a dream， I bring you gifts.
...This is a sorrow that all mankind must know-
But not as those know it who have been poor together.
元稹
遣悲怀之三
闲坐悲君亦自悲， 百年都是几多时？
邓攸无子寻知命， 潘岳悼亡犹费词。
同穴窅冥何所望？ 他生缘会更难期。
惟将终夜长开眼， 报答平生未展眉。
Yuan Zhen
An Elegy III
I sit here alone， mourning for us both.
How many years do I lack now of my threescore and ten？
There have been better men than I to whom heaven denied a son，
There was a poet better than I whose dead wife could not hear him.
What have I to hope for in the darkness of our tomb？
You and I had little faith in a meeting after death.
Yet my open eyes can see all night
That lifelong trouble of your brow.
李商隐
无题
隐无无端五十弦， 一弦一柱思华年。
庄生晓梦迷蝴蝶， 望帝春心托杜鹃。
沧海月明珠有泪， 蓝田日暖玉生烟。
此情可待成追忆， 只是当时已惘然。
Li Shangyin
The Inlaid Harp
I wonder why my inlaid harp has fifty strings，
Each with its flower-like fret an interval of youth.
The sage Chuangzi is daydreaming， bewitched by butterflies，
The springheart of Emperor Wang is crying in a cuckoo，
Mermen weep their pearly tears down a moongreen sea，
Blue fields are breathing their jade to the sun....
And a moment that ought to have lasted for ever
Has come and gone before I knew.
李商隐
无题
昨夜星辰昨夜风， 画楼西畔桂堂东。
身无彩凤双飞翼， 心有灵犀一点通。
隔座送钩春酒暖， 分曹射覆蜡灯红。
嗟余听鼓应官去， 走马兰台类转蓬。
Li Shangyin
To One Unnamed
The stars of last night and the wind of last night
Are west of the Painted Chamber and east of Cinnamon Hall.
...Though I have for my body no wings like those of the brightcoloured phoenix，
Yet I feel the harmonious heartbeat of the Sacred Unicorn.
Across the springwine， while it warms me， I prompt you how to bet
Where， group by group， we are throwing dice in the light of a crimson lamp；
Till the rolling of a drum，alas， calls me to my duties
And I mount my horse and ride away， like a waterplant cut adrift.
李商隐
隋宫
Li Shangyin
The Palace of the Sui Emperor
His Palace of Purple Spring has been taken by mist and cloud，
As he would have taken all Yangzhou to be his private domain
But for the seal of imperial jade being seized by the first Tang Emperor，
He would have bounded with his silken sails the limits of the world.
Fireflies are gone now， have left the weathered grasses，
But still among the weepingwillows crows perch at twilight.
...If he meets， there underground， the Later Chen Emperor，
Do you think that they will mention a Song of Courtyard Flowers？
