Translated poetry
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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

What can match
the weight of my feelings?
In cloudy wine
I find comfort enough

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

靡靡秋已夕

淒淒風露交

蔓草不復榮

園木空自凋

清氣澄餘滓

杳然天界高

哀蟬無留響

叢雁鳴雲霄

萬化相尋繹

人生豈不勞

從古皆有沒

念之中心焦

何以稱我情

濁酒且自陶

千載非所知

聊以永今朝