苏轼·《望江南·超然台作》英译

春未老，

风细柳斜斜。

试上超然台上看，

半壕春水一城花。

烟雨暗千家。

寒食后，

酒醒却咨嗟。

休对故人思故国，

且将新火试新茶。

诗酒趁年华。

Yearning for the South

Composed at the Detachment Tower

Spring still in its prime,

Waving in the breeze are the willows trim.

To take a look at the Detached Platform I climb:

Th’ town’s full of spring and th’ trench is about to brim,

Though countless households th’ mist and th’ rain bedim.

After Cold-Food Day (1),

I sign and lament when sobre from wine.

About old home to old friends you just nothing say,

To start a new fire and make new tea ‘tis fine:

It is to youth that verse and wine incline.

(1)    The Cold Food Day, during which people stop cooking for three days, is observed in honor of Jiezitui, a sage of Jin in the Warring States period who declined the king’s offer of enfeoffment to live a secluded life. To scare him out from the mountains, the king had the trees burned, only to find the sage dead in the fires. The festival begins two days before the Pure Brightness festival.