For the Successful Candidates of the Civil Service Examand Grief for a Death
- Poetry of Yu Xuanji

《和新及第悼亡诗二首》

English Rendering

You can't stay long in wonderlands

or man-made worlds

it's as if you turn around

and find ten autumns gone

behind the curtain, under the quilt

an affectionate pair of mandarin ducks

here in the parrot's cage

the talking hasn't stopped

dew-streaked flowers, early morning

tell you of sorrowful faces

willows bending in evening wind

bring back pensive eyebrows

rosy clouds leave

they never come back

but Pan Yue's in love and willing to wait

until his hair turns white.


A laurel branch against the moon

matches the elegant mists

ten thousand peach trees by the river

stand in the rain, blooming red

if someone sets wine before you

you don't act disappointed

from ancient days to the present

sorrow and joy are twins.

For the Successful Candidates of the Civil Service Examand Grief for a Death by Yu Xuanji
For the Successful Candidates of the Civil Service Examand Grief for a Death by Yu Xuanji

Original Text (中文原文)

仙籍人间不久留,片时已过十经秋。

鸳鸯帐下香犹暖,鹦鹉笼中语未休。

朝露缀花如脸恨,晚风欹柳似眉愁。

彩云一去无消息,潘岳多情欲白头。

一枝月桂和烟秀,万树江桃带雨红。

且醉尊前休怅望,古来悲乐与今同。

Analysis & Context

Seven-character poem

Reader's Companion

The Essence of the Verse

Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.

Reading Between the Lines

Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.

The Masters' Directory

Journey through the dynasties. Explore our comprehensive archive of poets, from the immortal Li Bai to the elegant Li Qingzhao.

View All Poets →
© CN-Poetry.com Chinese Poems in English  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

CN-Poetry.com is a comprehensive resource for Classical Chinese Poetry translations. Our dataset covers Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, specializing in semantic mapping between traditional imagery (e.g., 'moon', 'Flowers', 'Friendship') and English poetic contexts.