Poets in the Conversation Room | Andrew W. F. Wong

Farewell but Please Remain

By Ye Qingchen (1000-1049)
Translated by Andrew W. F. Wong (Huang Hongfa) 譯者: 黃宏發

            With my finest wine to fill your cup, I urge you to please remain,

            Not to unduly hasten to leave, I pray.

            Of the sweet springtime made of three, two are tinged with sadness,

            And one, what’s more, all bleak with wind and rain.

            Flowers blossom, yet flowers demise —

            How few, in all, are the flowering days?

            So, aloud, let us sing! Of sad things, air no plaints!

            Be merry, because we know not, we, next year when peonies smile,

            O where, if ever, shall meet each other again.

葉清臣 – 寄調: 賀聖朝  題: 留別

      滿斟綠醑留君住

      莫匆匆歸去

      三分春色二分愁

      更一分風雨

      花開花謝

      都來幾許

      且高歌休訴

      不知來嵗牡丹時

      再相逢何處

Join Us for Poets in the Conversation Room! 

Rare readings of ancient Chinese poetry by Dr. Andrew Wong
with St. John’s College tutor and translator, Stella Zhu

Saturday December 7   |   2 to 4 P.M.

The Conversation Room, Mellon Hall,  St. John’s College

Andrew Wang-Fat Wong 黃宏發 (Chinese pinyin Huang Hongfa) was the last President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong during British rule. He first picked up this fascinating hobby in 2007 and has so far been concentrating on the “jueju” 绝句 or quatrain (four-lined verse) of the Tang Dynasty venturing occasionally into other forms of classical Chinese poetry.

Hosted by Grace Cavalieri, Tenth Maryland Poet Laureate and Kymberly Taylor, Editor-in-Chief of Annapolis Home Magazine. The Conversation Room is located in Mellon Hall near the Mitchell Gallery of Art on the campus of St. John’s College, 60 College Avenue, Annapolis, Maryland 21401. Support and funding provided by St. John’s College, Annapolis Home Magazine, the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County, and Friends of Poets in the Conversation Room.

© Annapolis Home Magazine
Vol. 15, No. 6 2024