How to Read Chinese Poetry A Guided Anthology

(Amelia) #1

c i P oe t ry : long s ong ly riC s 271
Lying to the west of the old fort, it is said,
4 Is the Red Cliff, known because of Zhou Yu of the Three Kingdoms.
Rugged stone walls pierce the sky.
6 Angry waves beat the banks,
Churning up water like piles of frosty snow.
8 The mountains and the River look like a painting,
And how many heroes were once here!


10 Thinking far back, I see Zhou Gongjin,
With Little Qiao as his new bride,
12 Beaming with valor.
He has feather fan in hand and is in silk headdress, and while chatting
merrily,
14 The powerful enemy vanishes in flying ash and smoke.
My mind wandering over the old kingdom,
16 I become so sentimental that one may well laugh at me:
Too early have gray hairs crept onto my head.
18 Life is like a dream,
So let me offer this cup to the moon over the river.
[QSC 1:282]


念奴嬌 赤壁懷古

(niàn nú jiāo chì bì huái gŭ)


great river east go 大江東去
(dà jiāng dōng qù)
wave wash exhaust thousand ancient wind flow human thing 浪淘盡、千古風流人物 ▲
(làng táo jìn qiān gŭ fēng liú rén wù)
old fort west side people say is 故壘西邊人道是
(gù lĕi xī biān rén dào shì)
Three Kingdom Zhou Master Red Cliff 三國周郎赤壁 ▲
(sān guó zhōu láng chì bì)
chaotic rock pierce sky 亂石穿空
(luàn shí chuān kōng)
startled wave beat bank 驚濤拍岸
(jīng tāo pāi àn)
roll up thousand pile snow 捲起千堆雪 ▲
(juăn qĭ qiān duī xuĕ)
river mountain like painting 江山如畫
(jiāng shān rú huà)
one time more less bold outstanding 一時多少豪傑 ▲
(yì shí duō shăo háo jié)


distant think Gong- jin that year 遙想公瑾當年
(yáo xiăng gōng jĭn dāng nián)

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