English Translations ---2

HUICHANG
--to the tune of Ching Ping Yueh
Summer 1934

毛泽东《清平乐·会昌》

一九三四年夏

东方欲晓，
莫道君行早。
踏遍青山人未老，
风景这边独好。

会昌城外高峰，
颠连直接东溟。
战士指看南粤，
更加郁郁葱葱。

Soon dawn will break in the east.
Do not say "You start too early";
Crossing these blue hills adds nothing to one's years,
The landscape here is beyond compare.
Straight from the walls of Huichang lofty peaks,
Range after range, extend to the eastern seas.
Our soldiers point southward to Kwangtung
Looming lusher and greener in the distance.

LOUSHAN PASS
--to the tune of Yi Chin O
February 1935
毛泽东《忆秦娥·娄山关》
一九三五年夏冬

西风烈，长空雁叫霜晨月。
霜晨月，马蹄声碎，喇叭声咽。

雄关漫道真如铁，
而今迈步从头越。
从头越，苍山如海，夕阳如血。

Fierce the west wind,
Wild geese cry under the frosty morning moon.
Under the frosty morning moon
Horses' hooves clattering,
Bugles sobbing low.
Idle boast the strong pass is a wall of iron,
With firm strides we are crossing its summit.
We are crossing its summit,
The rolling hills sea-blue,
The dying sun blood-red.

THREE SHORT POEMS
--to the tune of Shih Liu Tzu Ling
1934-1935
毛泽东《十六字令》
1934年到1935年

其一
山，快马加鞭未下鞍。
惊回首，离天三尺三【原注】。

其二
山，倒海翻江卷巨澜。
奔腾急，万马战犹酣。

其三
山，刺破青天锷未残。
天欲坠，赖以拄其间。

I
Mountains!
I whip my swift horse, glued to my saddle.
I turn my head startled,
The sky is three foot three above me!*

II
Mountains!
Like great waves surging in a crashing sea,
Like a thousand stallions
In full gallop in the heat of battle.

III
Mountains!
Piercing the blue of heaven, your barbs unblunted!
The skies would fall
But for your strength supporting.


THE LONG MARCH
--a lu shih
October 1935
七律·长征
1935年2月

红军不怕远征难，万水千山只等闲。
五岭逶迤腾细浪，乌蒙磅礴走泥丸。
金沙水拍云崖暖，大渡桥横铁索寒。
更喜岷山千里雪，三军过后尽开颜。

The Red Army fears not the trials of the March,
Holding light ten thousand crags and torrents.
The Five Ridges wind like gentle ripples
And the majestic Wumeng roll by, globules of clay.
Warm the steep cliffs lapped by the waters of Golden Sand,
Cold the iron chains spanning the Tatu River.
Minshan's thousand li of snow joyously crossed,
The three Armies march on, each face glowing.


KUNLUN
--to the tune of Nien Nu Chiao
October 1935
《念奴娇·昆仑》
一九三五年十月

横空出世，莽昆仑，阅尽人间春色。
飞起玉龙三百万【原注】，搅得周天寒澈。
夏日消溶，江河横溢，人或为鱼鳖。
千秋功罪，谁人曾与评说？

而今我谓昆仑∶不要这高，不要这多雪。
安得倚天抽宝剑，把汝裁为三截？
一截遗欧，一截赠美，一截还东国。
太平世界，环球同此凉热。


Far above the earth, into the blue,
You, wild Kunlun, have seen
All that was fairest in the world of men.
Your three million white jade dragons in flight*
Freeze the sky with piercing cold.
In summer days your melting torrents
Flood the streams and rivers,
Turning men into fish and turtles.
Who has passed judgement on the good and ill
You have wrought these thousand autumns?
To Kunlun now I say,
Neither all your height
Nor all your snow is needed.
Could I but draw my sword o'ertopping heaven,
I'd cleave you in three:
One piece for Europe,
One for America,
One to keep in the East.
Peace would then reign over the world,
The same warmth and cold throughout the globe.


MOUNT LIUPAN
--to the tune of Ching Ping Yueh
October 1935

毛泽东《清平月·六盘山》
一九三五年十月

天高云淡，
望断南飞雁。
不到长城非好汉，
屈指行程二万。

六盘山上高峰，
红旗漫卷西风。
今日长缨在手，
何时缚住苍龙。



The sky is high, the clouds are pale,
We watch the wild geese vanish southward.
If we fail to reach the Great Wall we are not men
We who have already measured twenty thousand li

High on the crest of Mount Liupan
Red banners wave freely in the west wind.
Today we hold the long cord in our hands,
When shall we bind fast the Grey Dragon?

SNOW
--to the tune of Chin Yuan Chun
February 1936

毛泽东《沁园春·雪》

一九四六年二月

北国风光，
千里冰封，
万里雪飘。
望长城内外，惟馀莽莽。
大河上下，顿失滔滔。
山舞银蛇，原驰蜡象，【原注】
欲与天公试比高。
须晴日，
看红妆素裹，分外妖娆。

江山如此多娇，
引无数英雄竞折腰。
昔秦皇汉武，略输文采。
唐宗宋祖，稍逊风骚。
一代天骄，成吉思汗，
只识弯弓射大雕。
俱往矣，
数风流人物，还看今朝。

North country scene:
A hundred leagues locked in ice,
A thousand leagues of whirling snow.
Both sides of the Great Wall
One single white immensity.
The Yellow River's swift current
Is stilled from end to end.
The mountains dance like silver snakes
And the highlands* charge like wax-hued elephants,
Vying with heaven in stature.
On a fine day, the land,
Clad in white, adorned in red,
Grows more enchanting.

This land so rich in beauty
Has made countless heroes bow in homage.
But alas! Chin Shih-huang and Han Wu-ti
Were lacking in literary grace,
And Tang Tai-tsung and Sung Tai-tsu
Had little poetry in their souls;
And Genghis Khan,
Proud Son of Heaven for a day,
Knew only shooting eagles, bow outstretched
All are past and gone!
For truly great men
Look to this age alone.

FAREWELL TO THE GOD OF PLAGUE
--to the tune of lu shih poems
July 1, 1958
毛泽东《七律二首·送瘟神》

一九五八年七月一日

读六月三十日《人民日报》，余江县消灭了血丝虫。浮想联翩，夜不能寐。微风拂晓，
旭日临窗，遥望南天，欣然命笔。

绿水青山枉自多，华佗无奈小虫何！
千村薜荔人遗矢，万户萧疏鬼唱歌。
坐地日行八万里，巡天遥看一天河。
牛郎欲问瘟神事，一样悲欢逐逝波。

其二

春风杨柳万千条，六亿神州尽舜尧。
红雨随心翻作浪，青山着意化为桥。
天连五岭银锄落，地动三河铁臂摇。
借问瘟君欲何往，纸船明烛照天烧。

When I read in the Renmin Ribao of June 30, 1958 that schistosomiasis had been wiped out in Yukiang County, thoughts thronged my mind and I could not sleep. In the warm morning breeze next day, as sunlight falls on my window, I look towards the distant southern sky and in my happiness pen the following lines.

I
So many green streams and blue hills, but to what avail ?
This tiny creature left even Hua To powerless!
Hundreds of villages choked with weeds, men wasted away;
Thousands of homes deserted, ghosts chanted mournfully.
Motionless, by earth I travel eighty thousand li a day,
Surveying the sky I see a myriad Milky Ways from afar.
Should the Cowherd ask tidings of the God of Plague,
Say the same griefs flow down the stream of time.

II
The spring wind blows amid profuse willow wands,
Six hundred million in this land all equal Yao and Shun.
Crimson rain swirls in waves under our will,
Green mountains turn to bridges at our wish.
Gleaming mattocks fall on the Five Ridges heaven-high;
Mighty arms move to rock the earth round the Triple River.
We ask the God of Plague: "Where are you bound ?"
Paper barges aflame and candle-light illuminate the sky.


SHAOSHAN REVISITED
--a lu shih
June 1959
毛泽东《七律·到韶山》
一九五九年六月

一九五九年六月二十五日到韶山。离别这个地方已有三十二年了。

别梦依稀咒逝川，故园三十二年前。
红旗卷起农奴戟，黑手高悬霸王鞭。
为有牺牲多壮志，敢教日月换新天。
喜看稻菽千重浪，遍地英雄下夕烟。


I visited Shaoshan on June 25, 1959 after an absence of thirty-two years.

Like a dim dream recalled, I curse the long-fled past--
My native soil two and thirty years gone by.
The red flag roused the serf, halberd in hand,
While the despot's black talons held his whip aloft.

Bitter sacrifice strengthens bold resolve
Which dares to make sun and moon shine in new skies.
Happy, I see wave upon wave of paddy and beans,
And all around heroes home-bound in the evening mist.


ASCENT OF LUSHAN
--a lu shih
July 1, 1959
毛泽东《七律·登庐山》
一九五九年七月一日

一山飞峙大江边，跃上葱笼四百旋。
冷眼向阳看世界，热风吹雨洒江天。
云横九派浮黄鹤，浪下三吴起白烟。
陶令不知何处去，桃花源里可耕田。

Perching as after flight, the mountain towers over the Yangtze;
I have overleapt four hundred twists to its green crest.
Cold-eyed I survey the world beyond the seas;
A hot wind spatters raindrops on the sky-brooded waters.

Clouds cluster over the nine streams, the yellow crane floating,
And billows roll on to the eastern coast, white foam flying.
Who knows whither Prefect Tao Yuan-ming is gone
Now that he can till fields in the Land of Peach Blossoms?


MILITIA WOMEN
INSCRIPTION ON A PHOTOGRAPH
--a chueh chu
February 1961
毛泽东《七绝·为女民兵题照》
一九六一年七月二日

飒爽英姿五尺枪，
曙光初照演兵场。
中华儿女多奇志，
不爱红装爱武装。

How bright and brave they look, shouldering five-foot rifles
On the parade ground lit up by the first gleams of day.
China's daughters have high-aspiring minds,
They love their battle array, not silks and satins.


REPLY TO A FRIEND
--a lu shih
《七律·答友人》
一九六一年

九嶷山上白云飞，帝子乘风下翠微。
斑竹一枝千滴泪，红霞万朵百重衣。
洞庭波涌连天雪，长岛人歌动地诗。
我欲因之梦寥廓，芙蓉国里尽朝晖。

White clouds are sailing above Mount Chiuyi;
Riding the wind, the Princesses descend the green hills.
Once they speckled the bamboos with their profuse tears,
Now they are robed in rose-red clouds.
Tungting Lake's snow-topped waves surge skyward;
The long isle reverberates with earth-shaking song.
And I am lost in dreams, untrammelled dreams
Of the land of hibiscus glowing in the morning sun.


INSCRIPTION ON A PICTURE TAKEN BY COMRADE LI CHIN
--a chueh chu
September 9, 1961
七绝•《为李进同志题所摄庐山仙人洞照》
一九六一年九月九日

暮色苍茫看劲松，
乱云飞渡仍从容。
天生一个仙人洞，
无限风光在险峰。


Amid the growing shades of dusk stand sturdy pines,
Riotous clouds sweep past, swift and tranquil.
Nature has excelled herself in the Fairy Cave,
On perilous peaks dwells beauty in her infinite variety.


REPLY TO COMRADE KUO MO-JO
INSCRIPTION ON A PICTURE TAKEN BY COMRADE LI CHIN
--a lu shih
November 17, 1961

《七律·和郭沫若同志》

一九六一年十一月十七日

一从大地起风雷，便有精生白骨堆。
僧是愚氓犹可训，妖为鬼蜮必成灾。
金猴愤起千钧棒，玉宇澄清万里埃。
今日欢呼孙大圣，只缘妖雾又重来。

A thunderstorm burst over the earth,
So a devil rose from a heap of white bones.
The deluded monk was not beyond the light,
But the malignant demon must wreak havoc.
The Golden Monkey wrathfully swung his massive cudgel
And the jade-like firmament was cleared of dust.
Today, a miasmal mist once more rising,
We hail Sun Wu-kung, the wonder-worker.


ODE TO THE PLUM BLOSSOM
--to the tune of Pu Suan Tzu
December 9, 1961
《卜算子·咏梅》

一九六二年十二月

读陆游咏梅词，反其意而用之。

风雨送春归，
飞雪迎春到。
已是悬崖百丈冰，
犹有花枝俏。

俏也不争春，
只把春来报。
待到山花烂漫时，
她在丛中笑。


On reading Lu Yu's Ode to the Plum Blossom, I countered it with the following lines.

Wind and rain escorted Spring's departure,
Flying snow welcomes Spring's return.
On the ice-clad rock rising high and sheer
A flower blooms sweet and fair.

Sweet and fair, she craves not Spring for herself alone,
To be the harbinger of Spring she is content.
When the mountain flowers are in full bloom
She will smile mingling in their midst.


WINTER CLOUDS
--a lu shih
December 26, 1962
《七律·冬云》
一九六二年十二月二十六日

雪压冬云白絮飞，万花纷谢一时稀。
高天滚滚寒流急，大地微微暖气吹。
独有英雄驱虎豹，更无豪杰怕熊罴。
梅花喜欢漫天雪，冻死苍蝇未足奇。


Winter clouds snow-laden, cotton fluff flying,
None or few the unfallen flowers.
Chill waves sweep through steep skies,
Yet earth's gentle breath grows warm.
Only heroes can quell tigers and leopards
And wild bears never daunt the brave.
Plum blossoms welcome the whirling snow;
Small wonder flies freeze and perish.


REPLY TO COMRADE KUO MO-JO
--to the tune of Man Chiang Hung
January 9, 1963
毛泽东《满江红·和郭沫若同志》
一九六三年一月九日

小小寰球，有几个苍蝇碰壁。
嗡嗡叫，几声凄厉，几声抽泣。
蚂蚁缘槐夸大国，蚍蜉撼树谈何易。
正西风落叶下长安，飞鸣镝。

多少事，从来急;天地转，光阴迫。
一万年太久，只争朝夕。
四海翻腾云水怒，五洲震荡风雷激。
要扫除一切害人虫，全无敌。


On this tiny globe
A few flies dash themselves against the wall,
Humming without cease,
Sometimes shrilling,
Sometimes moaning.
Ants on the locust tree assume a great-nation swagger
And mayflies lightly plot to topple the giant tree.
The west wind scatters leaves over Changan,
And the arrows are flying, twanging.
So many deeds cry out to be done,
And always urgently;
The world rolls on,
Time presses.
Ten thousand years are too long,
Seize the day, seize the hour!
The Four Seas are rising, clouds and waters raging,
The Five Continents are rocking, wind and thunder roaring.
Our force is irresistible,
Away with all pests!

KUO MO-JO'S POEM

--to the tune of Man Chiang Hung

When the seas are in turmoil
Heroes are on their mettle.
Six hundred million people,
Strong in unity,
Firm in principle,
Can shore up the falling heavens
And create order out of the reign of chaos.
The world hears the cock crowing
And day breaks in the east.
The sun rises,
The icebergs melt.
Gold is not pinchbeck
And can stand the proof of flames.
Four great volumes
Show us the way.
How absurd for Chieh's dog to bark at Yao;
The clay oxen plunge into the sea and vanish.
The red flag of revolution is unfurling in the east wind,
The universe is glowing red.


REASCENDING CHINGKANGSHAN
--to the tune of Shui Tiao Keh Tou
May 1935
水调歌头·重上井冈山

久有凌云志，
重上井冈山。
千里来寻故地，
旧貌变新颜。
到处莺歌燕舞，
更有潺潺流水，
高路入云端。
过了黄洋界，
险处不须看。

风雷动，
旌旗奋，
是人寰。
三十八年过去，
弹指一挥间。
可上九天揽月，
可下五洋捉鳖，
谈笑凯歌还。
世上无难事，
只要肯登攀。

1965年5月

I have long aspired to reach for the clouds
And I again ascend Chingkangshan.
Coming from afar to view our old haunt, I find new scenes replacing the old.
Everywhere orioles sing, swallows dart,
Streams babble
And the road mounts skyward.
Once Huangyangchieh is passed
No other perilous place calls for a glance.
Wind and thunder are stirring,
Flags and banners are flying
Wherever men live.
Thirty-eight years are fled
With a mere snap of the fingers.
We can clasp the moon in the Ninth Heaven
And seize turtles deep down in the Five Seas:
We'll return amid triumphant song and laughter.
Nothing is hard in this world
If you dare to scale the heights.


TWO BIRDS: A DIALOGUE
--to the tune of Nien Nu Chiao
Autumn 1965
念奴娇·鸟儿问答

鲲鹏展翅，
九万里，
翻动扶摇羊角。
背负青天朝下看，
都是人间城郭。
炮火连天，
弹痕遍地。
吓倒蓬间雀。
怎么得了，
哎呀我要飞跃。

借问君去何方？
雀儿答道：
有仙山琼阁。
不见前年秋月朗，
订了三家条约。
还有吃的，
土豆烧熟了，
再加牛肉。
不须放屁，
试看天地翻覆。

1965年秋

The roc wings fanwise,
Soaring ninety thousand li
And rousing a raging cyclone.
The blue sky on his back, he looks down
To survey Man's world with its towns and cities.
Gunfire licks the heavens,
Shells pit the earth.
A sparrow in his bush is scared stiff..
"This is one hell of a mess!
O I want to flit and fly away."
"Where, may I ask?"
The sparrow replies,
"To a jewelled palace in elfland's hills.
Don't you know a triple pact was signed
Under the bright autumn moon two years ago?
There'll be plenty to eat,
Potatoes piping hot,
Beef-filled goulash."
"Stop your windy nonsense!
Look, the world is being turned upside down."