English中文
Treading on Grass: At an Inn in Chenzhou
雾失楼台，
月迷津渡。
桃源望断无寻处。
可堪孤馆闭春寒，
杜鹃声里斜阳暮。
The mist has blotted out the towers; the moon confuses the ford. Peach-Blossom Spring, sought until my gaze is spent, cannot be found. How can I bear it: a lonely inn shut fast in the chill of spring, and the cuckoo crying in the slanting sunset?
驿寄梅花，
鱼传尺素。
砌成此恨无重数。
郴江幸自绕郴山，
为谁流下潇湘去。
The post brings a spray of plum; the fish brings a letter on silk — they build up this grief past all counting. The Chen River has always wound around Mount Chen — for whom does it go flowing down to the Xiao and the Xiang?
Reading notes
幸自 means “originally” or “all along” here, rather than “fortunately.” The plum blossom sent by post and the fish carrying silk evoke traditional ways of speaking about letters. 为谁 is read wèi shuí.