Enjoying Autumn: Eight Poems: Poem No. 2
(2)
千 家 山 郭 静 朝 晖
日 日 江 楼 坐 翠 微。
信 宿 渔 人 还 泛 泛
清 秋 燕 子 故 飞 飞。
匡 衡 抗 疏 功 名 薄
刘 向 传 经 心 事 违。
同 学 少 年 多 不 贱
五 陵 衣 马 自 轻 肥。
(2)
Qian jia shan guo jing zhao hui
Ri ri jiang lou zuo cui wei.
Xin su yu ren huan fan fan
Qing qiu yan zi gu fei fei.
Kuang heng kang shu gong ming bo
Liu xiang chuan jing xin shi wei.
Tong xue shao nian duo bu jian
Wu ling yi ma zi jing fei.
Enjoy Autumn: Eight Poems: No. 2
Dawn sunlight, one thousand houses, city walls, and the mountains calm
Everyday small kingfishers sit on the towers.
Overnight fishermen begin their daily routines
Clear autumn, swallow chicks have a reason to fly away.
I can give the emperor advice like Kuang Heng,
but my official rank is too low
Or like Liu Xiang, pass on valuable experiences and teach Confucian matters of the heart.
Most of my former schoolmates are not as low as me
They naturally chased fast horses, money and Wu Ling burial plots.
Notes:
Kuang Heng: (206 BC-8 AD) High official during the late Han Dynasty. Famous childhood reader of books, and later Confucian scholar.
Liu Xiang: (77-6 BC) Scholar and poet during the Han Dynasty. Worked inside the imperial library.
Wuling: An ancient province during Han Dynasty times.