In the mountain
You ask me why I dwell in the green mountain;
I smile and make no reply for my heart is free of care.
As the peach-blossom flows down stream and is gone into the unknown,
I have a world apart that is not among men.
--- Li Bai
River Red
The rage has my hair standing,
Leaning by the rails, the drizzling rain has ceased,
Raising my eyes, crying out to the Heaven.
Thirty years of struggle and triumph, earth and dust.
Eight thousand miles of road and journey, moon and cloud.
Wait not and hesitate not, whiten the young man's hair,
Useless grief and empty tear.
The shame is not yet wiped away.
When will the sorrow fade away?
O ride the chariots to Ho Lan Pass.
Drive out the enemies, while laughing and chanting let their blood shed.
O look to a new beginning,
Reclaim our dear rivers and mountains, and every inch of our soil,
Then we will pay our tribute to Heaven.
--- Yue Fei
Crossing the Lonely Sea
Delving in the Book of Change, I rose through hardship great,
And desperately fought the foe for four long years;
Like willow catkin, the war-torn land looks desolate,
I sink and swim as duckweed in the rain appears.
For perils on Perilious Beach, I heaved and sighed,
On Lonely Sea now, I feel dreary and lonely;
Since olden days, which man has lived and not died?
Leave and preserve my loyal heart to mark the time past!
--- Wen Tansang
More Classical Chinese Poetry
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