Seven-Character Regulated Verse III: Zheng He, Golden Sands, Southeast

2006/3/3 17:56:28

Zheng He

Seven voyages of Zheng He, three hundred thousand li,

Raging seas churned six hundred years in vain.

Star-scattered isles still gleam with dew and rain,

The armada long dissolved in mist and haze.

Two dynasties dreamed their different Xu Fu dreams,

Ten thousand ages share Sima Qian's enduring fame.

Hegemony today belongs to the New World alone —

Treasure Ships long gone, only warships remain.

Golden Sands

Heaven pours the Yangtze's waves ten thousand li,

Breaching mountains, opening plains — the current never stills.

Dragons soar through the six realms, battling the mortal world,

Blood spatters phantom souls along the sun's trajectory.

Shattered armor sinks in sand, a phantasm of color,

Cool light pierces the waves where red carp leap alive.

The gold-panners come and go, vanishing without return —

White mist and azure smoke shift strangely dawn to dusk.

Southeast

Southeast, ten thousand li — the sea suspends the sky,

One crack in the golden vessel for a hundred fifty years.

Unburied blood of sea dragons, past and present fused,

Mirage-born phantoms rise in dawn and twilight haze.

Rise and fall of civilizations put Tang heroes to shame,

Through wind and rain in turmoil, recalling Zheng He's wisdom.

A billion across the sacred land rouse themselves once more —

Uproot Kunlun, hurl it forth, and fill the surging waves.