<Header>
<Author: 杜甫>
<Title: 觀公孫大娘弟子舞劍器行>
<Format: 七言古詩>
<Year: 1987>
<BookName: 300 Tang Poems: A New Translation>
<Translator: 許淵冲, 陸佩弦, 吳鈞陶>
<TranslatedTitle: Watching a Sword Dance Performed by the Pupil of the Elder Sister of Gongsun>
<BookPage: 186-188>
<UsedPage: 3>
<Feature: 4, 5>
<End Header>
<Poem>
昔有佳人公孫氏，
一舞劍氣動四方。
觀者如山色沮喪，
天地為之久低昂。
鬴如羿射九日落，
矯如群帝驂龍翔。
來如雷霆收震怒，
罷如江海凝清光。
絳脣珠袖兩寂寞，
況有弟子傳芬芳。
臨潁美人在白帝，
妙舞此曲神揚揚。
與余問答既有以，
感時撫事增惋傷。
先帝侍女八千人，
公孫劍器初第一。
五十年間似反掌，
風塵傾動昏王室。
梨園子弟散如煙，
女樂餘姿映寒日。
金粟堆南木已拱，
瞿唐石城草蕭瑟。
玳筵急管曲復終，
樂極哀來月東出。
老夫不知其所往，
足繭荒山轉愁疾。
<End Poem>
<Translation>
In former days there was a fair of Gongsun family,
Her sword dance whene'er played always was a pageantry.
A mountain of audience was moved, with looks of dismay;
Even heaven and earth would heave and set their breath all day.
With flashes like the Archer Yi shooting down the nine bright suns.
And vigour born of Genii drove the dragon on cloud-way.
she rushed on, and it's the thunders rolling in a fury,
And when finished, it's the sea calmed down with smooth rays.
Her ruby lips and pearled sleeves both were gone for long,
Yet lately there's her pupil carrying her artistry.
The beauty of Linying has come to White Emperor City,
Dancing the sword dance so gracefully and vividly.
I ask about her career and thus I know the story,
And the shifts and changes of life make me very dreary.
There were eight thousand maids in our deceased Emperor's court,
Among them, Mistress Gongsun's sword dance was e'er of the first.
As easily as one turns his hand, fifty years passed;
The royal houses were dimmed by chaotic clouds of dust.
All court actors were dispersed like smoke gone with gust,
Only the dancer's shadow gestures in the cold sunlight.
Trees have arched o'er the Tomb on Mount Jinsu, south of the crest.
At the Stone City , near the Qutang Gorge, grasses are withered.

And now, when sumptuous feasts with music and songs are finished,
Joy gives place to Sorrow and the moon is rising east.
Not knowing where she is gone, I linger with my callous feet
Printing among the desolate hill, and griefs swirl in my chest.
<End Translation>