[updated October 2022]
Imitate the Ancients: Twelve Poems: No. 3
拟 古： 十 二 首
(3)
长 绳 难 系 日
自 古 其 悲 辛。
黄 金 高 北 斗
不 惜 买 阳 春。
石 火 无 流 光
还 如 世 中 人。
即 事 已 如 梦
后 来 我 谁 身？
提 壶 莫 辞 贫
取 酒 会 四 邻。
仙 人 殊 恍 惚
未 若 醉 中 真。
Ni Gu: Shi Er Shou
(3)
Chang sheng nan xi ri
Zi gu qi bei xin.
Huang jin gao bei dou
Bu xi mai yang chun.
Shi huo wu liu guang
Huan ru shi zhong ren.
Ji shi yi ru meng
Hou lai wo shei shen?
Ti hu mo ci pin
Qu jiu hui si lin.
Xian ren shu huang hu
Wei ruo zui zhong zhen.
Imitate the Ancients: Twelve Poems: No. 3
Long ropes cannot tie up and hold the sun in place
In former days this created sorrow and bitterness.
Even climbing on a pile of gold one cannot deny the evening stars
Unable to buy the youth of a springtime warmth.
Human life short as a spark between flint and stone
Same goes for the cycles of a society.
Things in the present seem like a dream
Afterwards, whose life will I have?
Deny no one the opportunity to carry the wine pot
All neighbors together go to fetch the wine.
Achieving immortality requires an unusual state of mind
Not like being drunk and easy to obtain, this middle and natural state.