Tao Yuanming
陶淵明

己酉歲九月九日

“On the ninth day of the ninth month of the year ki-yu” (409 CE)

靡靡秋已夕

淒淒風露交

Little by little
autumn has come to its end
A bitter chill
wind meets the dew

蔓草不復榮

園木空自凋

Tangled weeds
no longer flourish
Well-tended trees
too wither away

清氣澄餘滓

杳然天界高

Clear air
poured off from the dregs
Far away
heaven looms high

哀蟬無留響

叢雁鳴雲霄

The mournful cicada
left behind no sound
A flock of geese
cry out above

萬化相尋繹

人生豈不勞

A universe of changes
unravel one into another
And life
how could it be but hard?

從古皆有沒

念之中心焦

Since ancient times
all have had to die
This thought
scalds my heart

何以稱我情

濁酒且自陶

What is there
that can square with my mood?
With this cloudy wine
I free myself of cares

千載非所知

聊以永今朝

A thousand years
I may not know
For now
just let this morning last forever

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