文╱唐．劉希夷（651～679）

洛陽城東桃李花，飛來飛去落誰家。

洛陽女兒好顏色，坐見落花長嘆息。

今年花落顏色改，明年花開復誰在。

已見松柏摧為薪，更閒桑田變成海。

古人無復洛城東，今人還對落花風。

年年歲歲花相似，歲歲年年人不同。 ──選自《全唐詩》

The White-Haired Man

Liu Xiyi (651 - 679, Tang Dynasty)

English translation: Ven. Miao Guang

East of Luoyang City are plum and peach blossoms,

Flying hither and thither, onto whose door will it land?

Ladies of Luoyang with such fair faces,

Yet deep sighs follow the sight of fallen flowers.

As this year’s flowers wilt, our faces will also change,

But who will be here to witness next year’s falls?

Having seen pines and oaks cut into firewood,

And heard dry fields turn into seas.

No more past dwellers in Luoyang City’s east,

While present ones still facing the spring breeze.

Year after year, days after days,

The flowers seem the same,

Days after days, years after years,

The people never stay.

── from Quan Tang Shi

(Complete Collection of Tang Poems)