秋風 Autumn Wind

遼天之末起秋風

千里長驅浮雲空

穿林初疑銜枚走

過崖猶響萬壑松

From far off, Autumn wind runs at us in a rush!
Across a thousand miles, displacing clouds with sky,
(And crowding through the dark, tense soldiers in a hush*),
Then past the cliff, through countless pines, like echoes fly.

* "銜枚走" (hold in mouth/bear, trunk, walk) is hard to translate or make much sense in English. It has no overt reference to soldiers, battle, or night attack. The author,Yuan Xi, said that in old times when soldiers were launching an attack secretly, they usually held something in their mouth - and put something like a tree branch inside their horses' mouths - so that there would be no "unexpected" sound to betray their suprise attack. Xi said when the wind passed through the woods, it gave her a feeling of tension, secrecy, just like that of a secret attack in the night. "銜枚走" is easy to understand in Chinese, as in movies these scenes are often shown; but in English, people could find it hard to understand. So Xi agreed with the statement of a soldiers' secret attack.

Translated by Jennifer Zeng and Damian Robin

秋夜 An Autumn Night

漏轉更長筆意遲

漫煮茶湯病題詩

誰共秋光消磨盡

憔悴黃花未死時

The timer measures; night moves on; pen; thought; late.

Through sickness haze I badly brew some tea; some verses write.

Who, linked tight to Autumn, wears away and finishes,

O withered, yellow flower not yet dead up to this date ?