Candi's English Translation
of Chinese Poems
12. 金縷衣
杜秋娘
Translated by Candi C. P. Liu (劉振蘋)
Translated by Candi C. P. Liu (劉振蘋)
金縷衣
Gold-threaded
Clothes
You'd better not cherish the gold-threaded clothes;
You'd better cherish your youth!
花開堪折直須折，莫待無花空折枝。
Pluck the flowers when they bloom,
Don’t wait till they’re all gone
and only bare boughs are left.
11. 宿建德江
宿建德江
An Overnight Stay on Jiande River
移舟泊煙渚，日暮客愁新。
Our boat has been steered to a misty islet,
off which it moored.As the day turns into night,
I begin to have a traveler's new sorrows.
野曠天低樹，江清月近人
With the fields so vast,
the sky seems lower than the distant trees.
The river being crystal clear,
the moon in the water the sky seems lower than the distant trees.
The river being crystal clear,
seems rather close to me.
10. 鹿柴
王維
Translated by Candi C. P. Liu (劉振蘋)
Translated by Candi C. P. Liu (劉振蘋)
鹿柴*
Lu Chai*
空山不見人， 但聞人語響。
Nobody is seen
in the vacant mountains,
but the sound of people talking
can be heard.
返景入深林， 復照青苔上。
The reflected sunlight
enters the deep forest,
and shines again
on the green moss.
*Lu Chai was a small place in Wang Chuan (輞川),
Chang An (長安)
賀知章
Translated by Candi C. P. Liu (劉振蘋)
回鄉偶書
少小離家老大回，鄉音無改鬢毛衰。
I left home when I was young;
now when I return, I am old.
My local accent has not changed,
But the hair on my temples
has thinned and turned grey.
has thinned and turned grey.
兒童相見不相識，笑問客從何處來。
My childhood playmate sees me
but can't recognize me,
but can't recognize me,
