Chun Wang (Du Fu) 春望 (杜甫)

國破山河在，城春草木深。
感時花濺淚，恨別鳥驚心。
烽火連三月，家書抵萬金。
白頭搔更短，渾欲不勝簪。

"The View in Spring”"

A kingdom smashed, its hills and rivers still here, Spring in the city, plants and trees grow deep. Moved by the moment, flowers splash with tears, Alarmed at parting, birds startle the heart. War’s beacon fires have gone on three months, Letters from home are worth thousands in gold. Fingers run through white hair until it thins, Cap-pins will almost no longer hold.

(by Stephen Owen, 1996)

"A Scene in Spring"

The state is torn apart, only the mountains and rivers remain. Weeds and trees run rampant in the city this spring. Do the flowers sense the times, that they, like me, should weep? Do the birds feel the emptiness, they seem so fearful? For three months on end the garrison beacons have glimmered at night. A letter from home would be worth a heap of gold to me, An old man waiting, whose remaining white hairs Will soon become too sparse even to hold a hat pin.

(by Paul Harris)

"What to Look for in Spring?"

The kingdom was wracked by war. Still the land stands. Long-abandoned, the walled-city gives refuge to spring grown weeds and wild plants. Sentimental me. Tears were shed over current affairs and splashed on flowers that were drawn and painted. In despair we bid farewell, unknowingly startled the birds off their roosts that were drawn and painted. Fighting has last through a second spring. Communications become sporadic. A letter from home if held ransom would fetch a fortune. From stress my hair went white; some breaks off each time I scratch my head. Soon I have no use for a hairpin.

(by me, 9/23/2016)

A quick note. The flowers and birds written in the poem, I surmise, were those drawn and painted in a bird-and-flower painting 花鳥畫 . This type of painting is typically associated with peace and prosperity.