欧阳修·《戏答元珍》英译

春风疑不到天涯，二月山城未见花。<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

残雪压枝犹有桔，冻雷惊笋欲抽芽。

夜闻归雁生乡思，病入新年感物华。

曾是洛阳花下客，野芳虽晚不须嗟。

To a Friend

Ou-yang Xiu

Not on spring’s itinerary, perhaps, this half-forgotten town next to nowhere. Vernal equinox is near, yet the hills around show no signs of vernal bloom. Oranges there are, a hardy lot, clinging to branches still bowed with persistent snow. And bamboo shoots, awakened by the first thunder out of a clear cold sky, are ready to break the ground.

Last night the cries of wild geese homeward bound aroused my envy. The new year is well on, nature rejoices in its renascent glory, but I?

We’ve had our day in the Capital of Flowers. Why lament, though flowers come late in the wilds?