[astralis]

post your favorite poems here! not only are chinese poems enjoyable, for you college/postgrad students out there this will be a valuable trove of information, quotes, etc. of course, try to include author, title, and time period.

here's one of my favorites.

清明

清明时节雨纷纷，
路上行人欲断魂
借问酒家何处有
牧童遥指杏花村

杜牧

and in pinyin,

Qing Ming

Qing ming shi jie yu fen fen
Lu shang xing ren yu duan hun
Jie wen jiu jia he chu you
Mu tong yao zhi xing hua cun

Du Mu

translated into english,

Clear and Bright

Rain falls heavily as Qing Ming comes
On the roads passers-by with dampened spirits go
I ask where the tavern is
A cowherd points to a village
In the distance, wreathed in apricot blossoms

Du Mu

803-852 AD

[General_Zhaoyun]

I'll post a few poems when I reach home. My book on Tang poems is at home and I haven't studied them for a long time :P Uhmm... no idea how to translate them into English, but I'll try.

[Shadowfax]

Can I just post it in Chinese, since I don't know how to translate poems too.. ;)

one of my favorite:

將進酒
李白 (700-762 A.D.)

君不見，黃河之水天上來，奔流到海不復回。

君不見，高堂明鏡悲白發，朝如青絲暮成雪。

人生得意須盡歡，莫使金樽空對月！

天生我材必有用，千金散盡還復來。

烹羊宰牛且為樂，會須一飲三百杯！

岑夫子，丹丘生，將進酒，君莫停！

與君歌一曲，請君為我側耳聽！

鐘鼓饌玉不足貴，但願長醉不願醒！

古來聖賢皆寂寞，惟有飲者留其名！

陳王昔時宴平樂，斗酒十千恣讙謔。

主人何為言少錢？徑須沽取對君酌。

五花馬，千金裘，呼兒將出換美酒，與爾同銷萬古愁！

[General_Zhaoyun]

Alright.. if you guys can't translate it into english, just post it in chinese.
For those who can translate it into english, try to translate them.

Anyway, for those people who are studying chinese poems, I suggest that you memorize them and read them out loud as well as study their meaning. Next time, when you are chatting with your friend, you can utter some poems, people might think you're very knowledgeable and poetic :P heehee.. (I'm going to do that to impress the girls I'm dating ;) ) To study chinese poems, just go to the bookshop and buy some books on chinese poems (esp. those on Tang and Song poems). There are plenty of them and then start reading them. Make sure those books have explanations.

I'll post my first favorite Tang poem called "Sitting alone at Mountain Jing Ting"
(独坐敬亭山) by the famous Tang poet Li Bai (李白)

The Poem:
--------------------------
独坐敬亭山

众鸟高飞尽, 孤云独去闲。
相看两不厌，就是敬亭山。

-李白

------------------------

In pinyin:

Du Zhuo Jing Ting Shan

Zhong Niao Gao Fei Jin, Gu Yun Du Qu Xian.
Xiang Kan Liang Bu Yan, Jiu Shi Jing Ting Shan.

--------------------------------------------------------

English Translation (sorry, my translation might not be good):

Sitting alone at Mountain Jing Ting

"All Birds fly high and far,
The lonely Cloud drifts away,
Watching each other without disgust,
Is Mountain Jing Ting. "

-Li Bai

--------------------------------
Explanation:

This poem attempted to describe what Li Bai, the poet's feelings when he is lonely and sitting at Mountain Jing Ting (situated at Anhui Province). Most of us will feel angry or impatient wanting someone to talk to or have a companion when we're lonely. But instead, Li Bai described his feeling of loneliness as 'without disgust'. He said all the birds are flying high and far away, and that the sky is empty with the cloud drifting away, but he treated the Mountain Jing Ting as a person, with whom he is watching each other, and this feeling is without disgust. He felt calm and soothe.

[astralis]

here's the one every chinese schoolkid learns, but it is still a good one.

夜思

床前明月光
疑是地上霜
舉頭望明月
低頭思故鄉

Ye Si

Chuang qian ming ye guang
Yi shi di shang shuang
Ju tou wang ming yue
Di tou si gu xiang

-Li Bai

Night Thoughts
I wake and moonbeams play around my bed
Glittering like hoarfroast to my wondering eyes
Upwards the glorious moon I raise my head
Then lay me down and thoughts of home arise

-Li Bai

701-762 AD

[ac_dropout]

床前明月光, no way that Tang poetry. That was a Canto pop song in HK by Anita Mui.

Stop spreading lies. :lol:

This is the real peom kids know.

床前明月光
疑是地上霜
舉頭看老师
低頭吃便当

My favorite poem

小姐小姐别生气
我请你去看电影
我坐椅子,你坐地
我吃香蕉, 你吃皮

[astralis]

someone's got such an angelic mind. :rolleyes:

[General_Zhaoyun]

ac_dropout, on Jul 10 2004, 02:11 PM, said:

床前明月光, no way that Tang poetry. That was a Canto pop song in HK by Anita Mui.

Stop spreading lies. :lol:

This is the real peom kids know.

床前明月光
疑是地上霜
舉頭看老师
低頭吃便当

My favorite poem

小姐小姐别生起气
我请你去看电影
我坐椅子,你坐地
我吃香蕉, 你吃皮

That's cool.. what an innovation :P :P

[Ghost_of_Han]

This isn't exactly a poem I think, but its in RTK.

Mao: The eighteen armies of the confrederate lords failed to kill Dong Zhuo. One Diao Chan sufficed. Liu Bei, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu could not conquer Lü Bu. Diao Chan, alone, was able to. The couch was her battleground, cosmetics her armor, glances her spear and dagger, frowns and smiles her bow and arrows. With pleasing words and humble phrases she arranged surprise attacks and ambushes - a female general truly to be feared and respected.

[Tyler]

ah right out of the book corect?

[Ghost_of_Han]

It was a footnote in my edtion, claiming to be on the introduction of one of Mao's translations. I'm not sure if it was meant as poety, but I like it.

[Yun]

A poem by Xin Qiji 辛弃疾 of the Southern Song:

"To the tune of The Ugly Slave 丑奴儿"

少年不识愁滋味，
In my youth I knew not the taste of sorrow,

爱上层楼。
And so I would climb towers.

爱上层楼，为赋新词强说愁。
I would climb to tower tops, and there squeeze the sorrow out of myself for the sake of my poetry.

而今识尽愁滋味，
But now that I have tasted more than my fill of sorrow,

欲说还休。
I wish to speak of it, but cannot.

欲说还休，却道天凉好个秋！
I wish to speak, but cannot, and merely say, "It's going to be a cold autumn!"

[astralis]

actually general zhaoyun, i prefer a slightly less literal translation of that poem. i love it myself.

獨坐敬亭山

眾鳥高飛盡
孤云獨去閑
相看兩不厭
只有敬亭山

-李白

Du Zuo Jing Ting Shan

Zhong niao gao fei jin
Gu yun du qu xian
Xiang kan liang bu yan
Zhi you jing ting shan

-Li Bai

Sitting Alone on Jingting Mountain

Flocks of birds have flown high and away;
A solitary drift of cloud, too, has since wandered on.
We gaze at each other, the mountain and I,
Until only the mountain remains.

-Li Bai

he's also referring to the ephemeral nature of life.

[General_Zhaoyun]

Well.. I don't know how to translate them into english..especially in poetic form.

[Tyler]

Well it may not be a chinese poem or a poem but I like chinese History Nation.