Yang Wanli: Plant Again Cattails and Lilies

Plant Again Cattails and Lilies in the Ponds and Streams

添 盆 中 石 菖 蒲 水 仙 花 水

旧 诗 一 读 一 番 新
读 罢 昏 然 一 欠 伸。
无 数 盆 花 争 诉 渴
老 夫 却 要 作 闲 人。

Tian Pen Zhong Shi Chang Pu Shui Xian Hua Shui

Jiu shi yi du yi fan xin
Du ba hun ran yi qian shen.
Wu shu pen hua zheng su ke
Lao ru que yao zuo xian ren.

Plant Again Cattails and Lilies in the Ponds and Streams

Read aloud old-time poems, page after page they appear new and fresh
Stopped the reading at dusk, energy extended and then spent.
Without the ability to count all the water lily flowers, they express their thirst
This old man so full of leisure he had forgotten them.