'柳宗元 秋曉行南谷經荒村 translation: On an Autumn Morning, Travelling on a Southern Valley Path to a Deserted Village, by Liu Zongyuan'
This is a very rough translation and annotation of the poem 秋曉行南谷經荒村 (Qiūxiǎo Xíng Nán Gǔjīng Huāngcūn), ‘On an Autumn Morning, Travelling on a Southern Valley Path to a Deserted Village’, by the Tang Dynasty Chinese poet 柳宗元 (Liǔ Zōngyuán).
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秋曉行南谷經荒村
Qiūxiǎo Xíng Nán Gǔjīng Huāngcūn [autumn] [morning] [travel] [south] [valley] [path] [deserted] [village] On an Autumn Morning, Travelling on a Southern Valley Path to a Deserted Village
杪秋霜露重， Miǎo qiūshuāng lù zhòng, [branch tip] [autumn] [frost] [dew] [heavy] On branch tips, the autumn frost and dew is heavy; (Autumn frost is a standard metaphor for encroaching white hair.)
晨起行幽谷。 chen qǐ xíng yōugǔ. [morning] [rise] [travel] [deep] [valley] at dawn one rises and travels in a deep valley. (Another metaphor, surely!)
黃葉覆溪橋， Huáng yè fù xī qiáo, [yellow] [leaf] [cover] [creek] [bridge] Yellow leaves cover a bridge on a creek;
荒村唯古木。 huāngcūn wéi gǔmù. [deserted] [village] [only] [old] [tree] in a deserted village, there are only old trees.
寒花疏寂歷， Hán huā shū jì lì, [cold] [flower] [sparse] [alone] [all] Cold flowers are scattered, all lonely;
幽泉微斷續。 yōu quán wēi duàn xù. [secluded] [spring] [tiny] [break] [continue] a hidden spring's faint sound is cut off, then continues.
機心久已忘， Jī xīn jiǔyǐ wàng, [cunning] [heart] [long time] [already] [forget] One's cunning mind long since forgotten,
何事驚麋鹿？ héshì jīng mílù? [what] [matter] [startle] [moose] [deer] how is it that one can startle an elk?
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