[updated September 2022]
Imitating the Personal Style of Tao Yuanming: Sixteen Poems
效 陶 潜 体 诗 ： 十 六 首
朝 饮 一 杯 酒
冥 心 合 元 化。
兀 然 无 所 思
日 高 尚 闲 卧。
暮 读 一 卷 书
会 意 如 嘉 诘。
欣 然 有 所 遇
夜 深 犹 独 坐。
又 得 琴 上 趣
安 弦 有 余 暇。
复 多 诗 中 狂
下 笔 不 能 罢。
唯 兹 三 四 事
持 用 度 昼 夜。
所 以 阴 雨 中
经 旬 不 出 人。
始 悟 独 往 人
心 安 时 亦 过。
Xiao Tao Qian Ti Shi: Shi Liu Shou
Zhao yin yi bei jiu
Ming xin he yuan hua.
Wu ran wu suo si
Ri gao shang xian wo.
Mu du yi juan shu
Hui yi ru jia jie.
Xin ran you suo Yu
Ye shen you du zuo.
You de qin shang qu
An xian you yu xia.
Fu duo shi zhong kuang
Xia bi bu neng ba.
Wei zi san si shi
Chi yong du zhou ye.
Suo yi yin Yu zhong
Jing xun bu chu she.
Shi wu du wang ren
Xin an shi yi guo.
Imitating the Personal Style of Tao Yuanming: Sixteen Poems
At dawn drink one cup of wine
Profound heart-mind joins the essential and natural.
Losing track of where I am, lofty thoughts
Still value leisure, laying down until noontime.
At sunset read aloud one scrolled book
Ran into the meanings like answering one fine question.
Joyfully have a place to receive and process this
Deep into the evening I am still alone.
Also access and then express on my qin
Tranquil musical strings with no time pressures.
Again write many wild and crazy poems
Later not able to stop my writing brush.
Only these three or four things
I could spend every day and night doing these.
This place can carry on through shade and rain
For fifteen days I have not left the house.
Begin to comprehend the solitary people of the past
Serene heart-minds experience time slipping past them.
Notes:
Qin: Ancient Chinese stringed musical instrument.
Three or four things: poetry, music, wine and reading books