Translation:
The peach and plum blossoms in the east of Luoyang city float and drift with the wind flying here and there not knowing which home they have fallen into.
The elegant women in Luoyang city couldn't help but sigh when they saw the falling peach blossoms.
This year I watched the peach and plum blossoms fade and lose their color due to withering. I wonder who will be able to see the splendid scene of blooming flowers next year?
I have already seen the tall and straight pine and cypress trees being cut down and used as firewood and I have heard that the mulberry fields have turned into a vast sea.
The old friend no longer laments the withering peach and plum blossoms in the east of Luoyang city but the present people still mourn for the falling flowers carried by the wind.
Every year the flowers bloom as usual but the people who appreciate them change every year.
Tell those young and beautiful youths to have pity on this half-dead old man with white hair.
Now he is old and pitiful but he was once a handsome and charming young man.
This old man with white hair used to enjoy himself with the young nobles under the fragrant trees appreciating beautiful songs and dances in front of the falling flowers.
He also decorated the pavilions and terraces like the high-ranking official Ma Fang in the Eastern Han Dynasty and painted clouds and immortals everywhere like the noble Liang Ji.
Now that the old man with white hair is lying sick in bed no one pays attention to him. Where have the joyous spring outings and beautiful songs and dances gone?
And how long can the beauty and youth of a beautiful woman last? In the blink of an eye her hair turns white and messy like snow.
Only the birds in the ancient and present dance halls are left mourning in the empty dusk.
Annotations:
代: Implied. 白头翁: Old man with white hair. The title of this poem varies in different editions. Dai Bei Bai Tou Weng in Tang Yin Dai Bei Bai Tou Weng in Tang Shi Gui Dai Bei Bai Tou Weng in Tang Shi Pin Hui and Dai Bai Tou Yin in Quan Tang Shi. Bai Tou Yin in Wen Yuan Ying Hua Le Fu Shi Ji and Yun Yu Yang Qiu. Bai Tou Weng Yong in You Mao Quan Tang Shi Hua.
坐见: Also written as 行逢.
松柏摧为薪: Pine and cypress trees being cut down and used as firewood. Gu Shi Shi Jiu Shou: Ancient tombs plowed into fields pine and cypress trees destroyed for firewood.
桑田变成海: Shen Xian Zhuan: Mago said to Wang Fangping 'Since your arrival I have seen the East Sea turn into mulberry fields three times.'
公子两句: The old man with white hair once enjoyed beautiful songs and dances with the young nobles in front of the flowers.
光禄: High-ranking official.
《代悲白头翁》译文及注释详情»
《白头吟》这首诗的主题是人生短促、富贵无常。诗人通过描绘洛阳城东的落花景色,表达了对青春易逝、红颜易老的感慨。诗的前半部分写洛阳女子感伤落花,抒发了对生命短暂和美好时光流逝的惋惜之情。后半部分写白头老翁遭遇沦落,抒发了对世事变迁和富贵无常的感慨。诗人通过将红颜女子和白头老翁的命运加以典型化,表现了处于封建社会下层的男女老少共同的命运,呼吁同病相怜。整首诗构思独特,抒情宛转,语言优美,音韵和谐,艺术性较高,因此在初唐时期就受到了推崇,一直被传为名篇。 《代悲白头翁》赏析详情»
刘希夷(约651年-约680年)是唐朝的一位诗人,字延之(一作庭芝),汉族,出生于汝州(今河南省汝州市)。他于高宗上元二年考中进士,并擅长弹琵琶。
刘希夷的诗作以歌行为主,尤其擅长写闺情,其辞意柔婉华丽,常常带有感伤的情调。《旧唐书》中的本传称他“善于创作从军闺情之诗,词调哀苦,为当时所重视的作品。他的志行不修,最终被奸人所杀害。”《大唐新语》卷8中记载:“后来孙翌编纂了《正声集》,将希夷的诗作视为其中最优秀的作品。”
《全唐诗》中收录了刘希夷的诗作1卷,而《全唐诗外编》和《全唐诗续拾》则补充了他的7首诗作。除此之外,关于刘希夷的生平和作品的资料相对较少。