梨花詩 Pear Blossom

寂歷三春誰家院  浩蕩東風吹過牆

玉樹千枝燃白雪  曲徑深巷梨花香

夜半溶溶光浸月  晝永脈脈煙生涼

時逢清明得氣早  開得冷艷天一方

仙子瑤台名有籍  謫來立盡小劫長

夢裡輕寒尤料峭  認取雲山是故鄉

Standing alone in Spring, whose courtyard is this?

Briskly, east wind overspills the wall,           

A thousand trees of sudden burning snow, 

pear blossom’s fragrance scorching lane and trail.           

Night descends, they beacon back the moon. 

At daybreak, they’re caressed by misty cool.

While Qingming*’s coming, they’re first to grasp Spring’s soul, 

making this far-off place beautiful.

 

I’m wondering: were they beings cast down          

to earth, to experience, whole, life’s jail?             

In cold night dreams they still remember lightness, 

home beyond the cloudy mountains’ rail.

* The Qingming or Ching Ming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day in English, is a traditional Chinese festival on the first day of the fifth solar term of the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. This makes it the 15th day after the Spring Equinox, either 4 or 5 April in a given year. Other common translations include Chinese Memorial Day and Ancestors' Day.

Translated by Jennifer Zeng and Damian Robin

天淨沙•梨花

清明暖日山光

幾家青瓦園牆

望若春雲浩蕩

梨花陌上

好風吹送天香

優曇婆羅花 The Mystical Udumbara

空花非是夢  夜來氣浮香

天外優曇海  縹緲白霓裳

玉骨無俗艷  寶相生清光

起舞在佛掌  下世應聖王

隨緣散花萼  忽然降十方

一花一世界  萬宇風露涼

皎然月下雪  潔白九秋霜

如意自來去  三千歲月長

The mystical udumbara is not a dream

Its fragrance penetrates the darkest night

And up into the heavens

There is a sea of udumbara flowers

Surrounded by countless layers of misty clouds

As pure as jade

Shining with ethereal light

They dance inside the Buddha's palms

And descend to this world

Responding to the Holy King

Blossoming in different places

According to predestined arrangements

Or suddenly flourishing simultaneously into ten directions

With each flower representing another world

Tens of thousands of worlds rejoice

Luminous like the snow under a full moon

Bright like the dew in deep forests

How they move with a free and easy spirit

Yet blooming only once every three thousand years

Heralding the advent of the King of the Golden Wheel

– 聽神韻交響樂曲目【優曇婆羅花】

– Original poem Inspired by "The Mystical Udumbara" by Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra.

Translated by Jennifer Zeng.

白蓮歌 Song to the White Lotus

愛彼白蓮花

采得月精華

譬如幽人立

皎皎若明霞

不做芙蓉冠

不生神仙家

我隨清風至

遇爾水之涯

Oh, white lotus, so lovely,

Growing essence of moonlight;

Standing graceful, pure lady,

As sunshine makes clouds bright.

 

Nature’s crowns, you’ve no need for;

High immortals don't hold you.

With the wind may my wings soar

Passed world's seas to be near you.

Translation by Jennifer Zeng | Rendition into formal English verse by Damian Robin