12 古诗三首

Lesson Twelve

Three Ancient Poems

To My Son

[the Song Dynasty] Lu You

That after death everything Becomes void, I sure perceive;

Yet, not to have seen my country unified is still what makes me grieve.

When the King’s northward-bound Army The Central Plains does reacquire,

In your ancestral sacrifices Forget not tell your sire!

The West Lake

[the Song Dynasty] Lin Sheng

Peaks rise beyond the peaks, while towers on towers crowd.

The song and dance proceed on West Lake long and loud.

The soft and drowsy breeze the wandering throng enchants.

Hangzhou, the new-found home, their old Bianzhou supplants.

Miscellanies of the Year 1839 (CX)

[the Song Dynasty] Gong Zizhen

From wind and thunder comes a nation’s vital force,

What a great pity not to hear a neighing horse!

I urge the Lord of Heaven to brace up again,

And send down talents of all kinds to Central.