七律·和柳亚子先生
一九四九年四月二十九日

Reply to Mr. Liu Yazi
A lu shi
April 29 1949

饮茶粤海未能忘
索句渝州叶正黄
三十一年还旧国
落花时节读华章
牢骚太盛防肠断
风物长宜放眼量
莫道昆明池水浅
观鱼胜过富春江

I still remember our drinking tea in Kwangchow
And your asking for verses in Chungking as the leaves yellowed.
Back in the old capital after thirty-one years,
At the season of falling flowers I read your polished lines.
Beware of heartbreak with grievance overfull,
Range far your eye over long vistas.
Do not say the waters of Kunming Lake are too shallow,
For watching fish they are better than Fuchun River.

【附】 柳亚子原诗

《感事呈毛主席一首》

开天辟地君真健
说项依刘我大难
夺席谈经非五鹿
无车弹铗怨冯驩
头颅早悔平生贱
肝胆宁忘一寸丹
安得南征驰捷报
分湖便是子陵滩

MY THOUGHTS PRESENTED TO CHAIRMAN MAO
--a lu sbih

by Liu Yazi

You excel as the maker of a new epoch!
Hard it was for me to laud Light in dark times.
Lecturing on classics, I am no time-serving scholar
And, to my sorrow, have met with no warm reception.
Remorse fills me at the thought of my misspent life,
Yet my heart will remain true to the end.
O for glad tidings from the southern expedition!
Lake Fenhu will then be my hermit resort.