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陸游 登賞心亭 translation: Ascending the Joy Pavilion, by Lu You

This is a translation and annotation of the poem 登賞心亭 (Dēng Shǎngxīn Tíng), by the Song dynasty poet 陸游 (Lu You). The poem is also known by its first line: 蜀棧秦關歲月遒 (Shǔ Zhàn Qín Guān Suìyuè Qiú).

登賞心亭 Dēng Shǎngxīn Tíng [ascend] [appreciate] [heart] [pavilion] Ascending the Joy Pavilion

蜀棧秦關歲月遒， Shǔzhàn Qínguān suìyuè qiú, [Shuzhan road][] [Qin] [mountain pass] [year] [month] [end] From Shu’s bamboo trestlework to Qin’s mountain pass, time passes till the end,

今年乘興卻東遊。 jīnnián chéngxìng què dōngyóu. [today] [year] [ride] [feeling] [retreat] [east] [travel] this year, on an impulse, one returns east to travel.

全家穩下黃牛峽， Quán jiā wěn xià Huángniú Xiá, [whole] [family] [settled] [under] [Yellow] [Ox] [Gorge] One's whole family has settled in Yellow Ox Gorge;

半醉來尋白鷺洲。 bàn zuì lái xún Báilù Zhōu. [half] [drunk] [arrive] [look for] [White] [Heron] [Island] half drunk, one comes to search for White Heron Island.

黯黯江雲瓜步雨， Àn àn jiāng yún Guābù yǔ, [dark] [dark] [river] [cloud] [Gua] [Bu] [rain] A deep, dark river under rain clouds by Guabu Mountain;

蕭蕭木葉石城秋。 xiāoxiāo mùyè shíchéng qiū. [desolate] [desolate] [tree] [leaf] [stone] [city] [autumn] desolate leaves in Stone City in the autumn.

孤臣老抱憂時意， Gū chén lǎo bào yōu shí yì, [lonely] [official] [always] [hold] [worry] [times] [thought] A lonely official forever worrying about the times;

欲請遷都淚已流。 yù qǐng qiāndū lèi yǐ liú. [want] [request] [move] [capital] [tears] [already] [flow] he requests they move the capital, his tears already flowing.

If you notice a mistake or disagree with the translation, please comment below to improve this resource. You might want to have a read of this, as well.

Notes

蜀棧 is the name of a specific road from the Kingdom of Shu Han. 秦關 refers to the valley of the Wei River (渭河), and is a metonym for Chinese civilisation in general.

黃牛峽 is a valley in Hubei province (湖北).

瓜步 is a mountain (瓜步山) across the Yangtze River from Nanjing.

Source: 登赏心亭 - 百度百科

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