Chinese Poems

出嘉峪关[1]感赋 [清]林则徐 严关[2]百尺界[3]天西， 万里征人[4]驻马蹄。 飞阁[5]遥连秦树直[6]， 缭垣[7]斜压陇[8]云低。 天山[9]巉削[10]摩肩立[11]， 瀚海[12]苍茫入望迷[13]。 谁道崤函[14]千古险， 回看只见一丸泥[15]。 注释： [1]嘉峪关：在今甘肃省嘉峪关市西。它是长城西端防守要塞，也是西北交通要道，上有题额“天下第一雄关”。 [2]严关：险峻的关隘，这里指嘉峪关。 [3]界：隔断。 [4]万里征人：作者自称。 [5]飞阁：高耸的楼阁，指嘉峪关城的建筑物。 [6]秦树直：远望树都是直的。秦，古代的秦地，即今陕西一带。 [7]缭垣：回旋的城墙，这里指长城。 [8]陇：今甘肃东部。 [9]天山：横贯新疆中部的大山。 [10]巉削：山势险峻。 [11]摩肩立：言天山与嘉峪关并肩而立。 [12]瀚海：西部戈壁的沙漠。 [13]入望迷：一望无边，为它迷目。 [14]崤函：崤山与函谷的合称，这里主要指函谷关。 [15]一丸泥：函谷关处在山谷狭道中，形势险要，易于把守，古人有“以一丸泥为大王东封函谷关”之说。此比喻函谷关远不如嘉峪关雄壮险要。 The Westernmost Stronghold Lin Zexu[1] The hundred-foot-high Great Wall bars the western sky; Having journeyed for miles and miles, I stop my steed. The endless battlements join proud trees far and nigh; The surrounding walls weigh on clouds flying with speed. Steep Heaven's Mountain stands level with the stronghold; The boundless desert come in view puzzles my eyes. Who says the Eastern Pass is strongest as of old? Looking back, I find only a mole-hill rise. 注释： [1]Lin Zexu was a national hero who burned up the opium imported from UK in 1839, but was banished to the westernmost stronghold. "Poems on Leaving Jiayuguan" is a work written by Lin Zexu, and is from "Lin Zexu Volume (Collection of Chinese Modern Thinkers)"....

塞下曲 [清]顾炎武 赵信城[1]边雪化尘， 纥干山[2]下雀呼春。 即今三月莺花满， 长作江南梦里人。 注释： [1]赵信城：古代匈奴境内的城，在今天蒙古高原杭爱山一带。 [2]纥干山：又称“纥真山”，在山西大同东，这里代指塞外环境。 A Frontier Song[1] Gu Yanwu In the surrendered town snow melts into dust quiet; The birds below the Northern Mountain cry for spring. Now in third moon orioles and flowers run riot, The killed should come south to his wife's dream on the wing. 注释： [1]This song describes the Northern frontier where Southern warriors were killed; the South may allude to the Ming Dynasty and the North to the Qing. This poem was written in the fourth year of the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1667). It was the fourth year after the fall of the Ming Dynasty. The poet mourned the soldiers who died fighting for the Ming Dynasty by describing how a woman missed her husband who had been away from home for a long time in the bright and sunny spring season. The tone of the poem is sad and sorrowful. The poet chose the typical environment of the northern frontier: the ice and snow began to melt, the swallows and sparrows returned, the orioles and flowers bloomed, and the annual spring in the northern frontier finally came again. The bright spring light touched the spring feelings…...

Mao Zedong 渔家傲·反第一次大围剿 一九三一年春 AGAINST THE FIRST "ENCIRCLEMENT" CAMPAIGN--to the tune of Yu Chia Ao Spring 1931 万木霜天红烂漫，天兵怒气冲宵汉。雾满龙冈千嶂暗，齐声唤，前头捉了张辉瓒。Forests blaze red beneath the frosty sky,The wrath of Heaven's armies soars to the clouds.Mist veils Lungkang, its thousand peaks blurred.All cry out in unison:Our van has taken Chang Hui-tsan! 二十万军重入赣，风烟滚滚来天半。唤起工农千百万，同心干，不周山下红旗乱。The enemy returns to Kiangsi two hundred thousand strong,Fumes billowing in the wind in mid-sky.Workers and peasants are wakened in their millionsTo fight as one man,Under the riot of red flags round the foot of Puchou !* ************** *AUTHOR'S NOTE: The story of Kungkung butting against Mount Puchou:The chapter "On Astronomy" in Huai Nan Tzu says: "In ancient times Kungkung and Chuanhsu fought each other for the throne. In a fit of rage Kungkung butted against Mount Puchou, breaking the pillars of heaven and snapping the ties of the earth. Then the sky shifted towards the northwest, tilting the sun, moon and stars; the earth sank in the southeast so that dust and water gathered there." "The Chronicle of Chou" in Kuo Yu says: "In ancient times Kungkung, departing from the right way, gave himself up to pleasure and unbridled licence. He tried to stem the hundred streams, destroy hills and silt up…...