Author: Du Fu
though a country be sundered, hills and rivers endure, and spring comes green again to trees and grasses.
where petals have been shed like tears, and lonely birds have sung their grief.
after the war-fires of three months, one message from home is worth a ton of gold.
I stroke my white hair. It has grown too thin, to hold the hairpins any more.
The fallen country of Chang 'an is broken, only the mountains and rivers remain the same.
When spring comes, the city is empty and sparsely populated, and the vegetation is dense and deep.
It's hard to stop tears from splashing in the face of sentimental state affairs.
The separation of relatives and birds makes people feel heart-pounding, which increases their resentment.
There have been frequent wars since beginning of spring, which have spread in March.
Where is your home? News from the state is rare, and a letter is worth thousands of dollars.
When I think about scratching my head with sadness, my white hair gets shorter and shorter.
My hair falls off so short and little that I can hardly insert it.
Du Fu's Wang Yue
what a majestic sight of holy Mountain Tai!? Out of Qilu, still visible the green peak. Magic natural convergence of thousands of beautiful, the south of the mountains north of the separation between early morning and dusk.
colorful clouds lave? my bosom free and easy, and the birds fly back and forth before my strained eye.. Try to ascend the mountain's crest: It dwarfs all peaks under our feet.
Poetry translation:
Mount Tai, how magnificent are you? You are tall and green, and you straddle Qilu. The creator gave it to you, which concentrated magnificence and magic. Your lofty mountain peaks divided the north and south into morning and evening. Looking at the layers of clouds rising, it is refreshing, and watching the returning birds swirl into the mountains makes people's eyes want to break. One day, I will climb to the top of your mountain and see the small mountains around me at a glance!
In Shihao Village at dusk, officials catch people at night. The old man walked over the wall and the old woman went out to watch.
why bother when an official shouts and a woman cries! Before listening to the wife's speech: three men guarding Yecheng.
one man attached a book, and two men died in battle. Those who live and drag out an ignoble existence, the dead are long gone!
there's no one in the room, only the breast and the grandson. There are grandmothers who have not gone, and there are no skirts in and out.
Although the old woman is weak, please come back from the official night, and be in urgent need of service in the river and yang, so that you can prepare for the morning cooking.
a long night's silence is like weeping and choking. Dawn will ascend to the future, leaving the old man alone.
Shihao official
Translation:
In the evening, I stayed in Shihao Village, and officers came to arrest people at night. The old man fled over the wall, and the old woman went out to look at it.
how fierce the officers shouted and how painful the old woman cried!
I heard the old woman go up and talk to the officers: Three sons should defend Yecheng. One son sent a message back, and two sons died in battle recently. The living live one day at a time, and the dead are finished forever! There are no other men in the family, only the grandson who is still nursing. Because there is a grandson, his mother has not left, and there is no complete clothes in and out. Old woman, although my strength is weak, please let me follow you back to the barracks tonight, enlist in Henan as soon as possible, and prepare breakfast for the army tomorrow.
it's late at night, and the voice is gone, as if I heard someone crying vaguely. It's dawn, and I'm on my way. I can only say goodbye to the old man.