Spring Outing (2&3)


The river is filled to the brim

For you to wash or to rinse

The far view extends vast and beyond

I watch and I sing

It’s easy to feel content in life – all depends on how you think

Raising my winecup to cheers

I feel just so pleased


But the water runs nonstop

Bringing me the fond memory of Yi

Passing by are a few schoolboys

Singing a song on their way home

I envy them for being so carefree, either in sleep or on the roam

But we’re in such different time zones

The past cannot be chased back home

Translated by Dot, from Tao Yuanming’s “Spring Outing (Part Two & Three),” written in the Six Dynasties period

洋洋平泽,乃漱乃濯。
邈邈遐景,载欣载瞩。
称心而言,人亦易足。
挥兹一觞,陶然自乐。

延目中流,悠想清沂。
童冠齐业,闲咏以归。
我爱其静,寤寐交挥。
但恨殊世,邈不可追。

~ 陶淵明 (東晉末至南北朝) 《時運 其二及三》