李白-古风五十九首 - Translated by Marianne Wang
FIFTY-NINE PIECES OF ANCIENT STYLES (EXCERPT)

大雅久不作，吾衰竟谁陈 ？王风委蔓草，战国多荆榛。
It has been a long time since I created my last elegant piece; to whom can I pour my dismay? The winds are following the weeds, and there are always many brambles in a turbulent country.

龙虎相啖食，兵戈逮狂秦。正声何微茫，哀怨起骚人。
Tigers and dragons are fighting with each other, and rebels are attacking the vaunting empire. Voices of the sensible people are blocked, and the dejected poets begin to complain.

扬、马激颓波，开流荡无垠。废兴虽万变，宪章亦已沦。
Yang and Ma stir up the decadent tides, and streams are agitating extensively. While many things are yet to be improved, the charters are already abandoned.

自从建安来，绮丽不足珍。圣代复元古，垂衣贵清真。
Since the year of Jian’an, people have become lavish and even the valuable are not treasured any more. They forgot that even in the prosperous dynasties people cherished the old styles and wore simple clothes.

群才属休明，乘运共跃鳞。文质相炳焕，众星罗秋□。 【上日下文】
Some officials were wise and enterprising, and left their names in the history. They were so erudite and righteous, and were like stars shining in the sky at an autumn night.

我志在删述，垂辉映千春。希圣如有立，绝笔于获麟。
My ambition is to remove the evils and to expostulate, and make my name remembered in the next thousand years. However, if the ruler can show me the right path, I will stop writing forever most willingly.