韦应物: 长安遇冯著/ wei yingwu: on meeting my friend feng zhu in the capital

长安遇冯著

韦应物

客从东方来， 衣上灞陵雨。

问客何为来， 采山因买斧。

冥冥花正开， 扬扬燕新乳。

昨别今已春， 鬓丝生几缕。

on meeting my friend feng zhu in the capital

wei yingwu

　

out of the east you visit me,

with the rain of baling still on your clothes,

i ask you what you have come here for;

you say: "to buy an ax for cutting wood in the mountains"

…hidden deep in a haze of blossom,

swallow fledglings chirp at ease

as they did when we parted, a year ago….

how grey our temples have grown since them!