唐诗咏蝉借虫抒怀，依托赋比兴古法凝练东方哲思与田园意趣。寒蝉栖枝、风鸣高树，既绘山野清景，又托士子心志。甄选十六首经典咏蝉诗作做英译集锦，立足文化出海初心，打破语言壁垒，把中式含蓄诗情译向四海，让域外读者读懂唐人托物言志的古典美学。
1、《蝉》
（唐）虞世南
垂緌饮清露，流响出疏桐。
居高声自远，非是藉秋风。
1. The Cicada
By Yu Shinan (Tang Dynasty) / Tr. Wang Yongli
Its tassels sip the dewdrops pure and clear,
Through sparse parasol trees its ringing song doth appear.
Perched high, its voice travels afar of its own might,
It needs no autumn wind to spread its sound in flight.
2、《在狱咏蝉》
（唐）骆宾王
西陆蝉声唱，南冠客思深。
不堪玄鬓影，来对白头吟。
露重飞难进，风多响易沉。
无人信高洁，谁为表予心？
2. Singing to the Cicada in Prison
By Luo Binwang (Tang Dynasty) / Tr. Wang Yongli
In autumn climes the cicadas loud resound,
A captive’s sorrow wells up all around.
I cannot bear your dark wing’s shadow nigh,
Against my hoary hair I sigh and cry.
Bowed down by dew, you strive in vain to fly;
Drowned by rough winds, your song fades in the sky.
No one believes our pure and noble part—
Who will stand forth to plead for my pure heart?
3、《蝉》
（唐）李商隐
本以高难饱，徒劳恨费声。
五更疏欲断，一树碧无情。
薄宦梗犹泛，故园芜已平。
烦君最相警，我亦举家清。
The Cicada
By Li Shangyin (Tang Dynasty) / Tr. Wang Yongli
From heights, contentment seldom flows day by day,
Your plaintive cries are wasted on the way.
Before the dawn, your faint song turns to chill;
A tree in emerald green, heartless and still.
A petty official, I drift like floating reed,
My old home’s overgrown with weeds indeed.
You warn me well—your fate is plain to see:
My whole household, like you, lives pure and free.
4、《闻蝉》
唐·杜牧
火云初似灭，晓角欲微清。
故国行千里，新蝉忽数声。
时行仍仿佛，度日更分明。
不敢频倾耳，唯忧白发生。
Hearing the Cicada
By Du Mu (Tang Dynasty) / Tr. Wang Yongli
The fiery summer clouds begin to fade,
Dawn bugles breathe a cool and gentle shade.
A thousand miles away from native land,
New cicadas’songs across the air expand.
Time flows in weary monotony through days;
Yet stands in stark and piercing clarity.
I dare not listen closely to their lay,
Lest gray hairs grow and youth decay away.
5、《闻蝉感怀》
(唐)贾岛
新蝉忽发最高枝，不觉立听无限时。
正遇友人来告别，一心分作两般悲。
Hearing the Cicada, Stirred by Grief
By Jia Dao (Tang Dynasty) / Tr. Wang Yongli
A new cry breaks from off the topmost bough—
Unwares, I stand entranced, lost in the now.
Just then a friend comes near to bid farewell—
One heart is split: two griefs in one breast dwell.
6、《风蝉》
唐·贾岛
风蝉旦夕鸣，伴叶送新声。
故里客归尽，水边身独行。
噪轩高树合，惊枕暮山横。
听处无人见，尘埃满甑生。
The Wind-Blown Cicada
By Jia Dao (Tang Dynasty) / Tr. Wang Yongli
From dawn to dusk the wind-borne cicadas cry,
With rustling leaves, they send their fresh notes nigh.
All wanderers from my hometown have gone home—
Alone I pace along the stream's white foam.
Their clamor fills the eaves where tall trees blend,
I wake—and see dusk mountains ridge on end.
None watches me as I listen, lone and still,
Dust crusts my cooking pot, my house is chill.
7、《六月三日夜闻蝉》
唐·白居易
荷香清露坠，柳动好风生。
微月初三夜，新蝉第一声。
乍闻愁北客，静听忆东京。
我有竹林宅，别来蝉再鸣。
不知池上月，谁拨小船行。
Hearing the Cicada on the Third Night of the Sixth Lunar Month
By Bai Juyi (Tang Dynasty) / Tr. Wang Yongli
Lotus scent blends with falling dewdrops clear,
Willows sway soft and gentle winds appear.
On this third night with faint crescent moon on high,
The first new cicada’s song drifts through the sky.
The note stirs grief in this far northern guest,
I dream of Eastern Capital in my breast.
A cottage in bamboo grove once was mine to own;
The cicadas sing again while I’m alone.
Beneath the moon above the pond’s still tide,
Who is gently rowing the small boat inside?
8、《画蝉》
（唐）戴叔伦
饮露身何洁，吟风韵更长。
斜阳千万树，无处避螳螂。
The Painted Cicada
By Dai Shulun (Tang Dynasty) / Tr. Wang Yongli
You drink pure dew, your form immaculate and bright;
Your song on winds extends its pure delight.
The light of setting sun through myriad trees now streams;
Nowhere to hide from the mantis that schemes.
9、《蝉》
（唐）陆龟蒙
只凭风作使，全仰柳为都。
一腹清何甚，双翎薄更无。
伴貂金换酒，并雀画成图。
恐是千年恨，偏令落日呼。
The Cicada
By Lu Guimeng (Tang Dynasty) / Tr. Wang Yongli
You ride the wind as your envoys go,
And dwell in willows, your city below.
How pure and clear your slender body lies!
Your wings are thin beyond compare in size.
Men pawn gold cicadas with sable tails for wine,
With sparrows you in painted scrolls combine.
Perhaps a thousand years of grief you bear,
That makes you cry beneath the sunset's glare.
Note: In ancient China, high-ranking officials wore crowns inlaid with golden cicada ornaments and sable tails. Impoverished literati often pawned these noble accessories for wine. Cicadas together with sparrows were common motifs on traditional Chinese silk paintings. The poet endows the cicada with eternal sorrow, venting the unspoken grievances of frustrated scholars.
10、《新蝉》
唐·刘兼
齐女屏帏失旧容，侍中冠冕有芳踪。
翅翻晚鬓寻香露，声引秋丝逐远风。
旅馆听时髭欲白，戍楼闻处叶多红。
只知送恨添愁事，谁见凌霄羽蜕功。
The New Cicada
By Liu Jian (Tang Dynasty) / Tr. Wang Yongli
The legend of the Cicada Maid fades behind screen and veil,
Yet golden cicada crests still grace Attendant-in-chief’s mail.
Your wings brush twilight locks to seek sweet crystal dew,
Your sounds draw the autumn spider's silk to follow distant wind anew.
A roving scholar hears your tone, his beard turns hoary-gray;
On border towers, red autumn leaves decay away.
Men only mark your song as grief and sorrow’s heavy load—
Who sees you shed your shell to soar where heaven’s breezes road?
Notes:
The Cicada Maid: Ancient Chinese legend tells a palace maiden who died of longing and turned into a cicada, origin of the cicada’s mournful cry.
Golden cicada crests: A mark of rank for imperial attendants in Han Dynasty, golden cicada ornaments sewn on official hats, symbolizing purity and nobility.
Shed your shell to soar: The cicada molts its earthly shell to fly high toward the sky, a metaphor for virtuous scholars transcending worldly hardship.
11、《病蝉》
（唐）贾岛
病蝉飞不得，向我掌中行。
拆翼犹能薄，酸吟尚极清。
露华凝在腹，尘点误侵睛。
黄雀并鸢鸟，俱怀害尔情。
The Sick Cicada
By Jia Dao (Tang Dynasty) / Tr. Wang Yongli
The sick cicada cannot fly afar,
It creeps and crawls within my open palm.
Broken-winged, yet thin notes still resound;
Bitter chanting, its purest tone unbound.
Bright dewdrops rest upon its fragile breast,
Dim dust mars its clear eyes in sad unrest.
Both yellow sparrows and the hawk on wing,
Would seek to harm this frail and harmless thing.
12、《蝉》
（唐）罗邺
才入新秋百感生，就中蝉噪最堪惊。
能催时节凋双鬓，愁到江山听一声。
不傍管弦拘醉态，偏依杨柳挠离情。
故园闻处犹惆怅，况是经年万里行。
The Cicada
By Luo Ye (Tang Dynasty) / Tr. Wang Yongli
When autumn barely comes, a hundred thoughts arise,
But none so startles me as cicadas' cries.
They hasten seasons on and turn my temples grey;
One note of grief o'er hills and streams holds sway.
They shun no feast, nor wine-drowned revelry—
Yet cling to willows, stirring memory.
Even in my homeland, their song would bring me pain—
How much more now, when years of roaming in vain
Have driven me ten thousand miles away!
13、《听蝉》
（唐）赵嘏
噪蝉声乱日初曛，弦管楼中永不闻。
独奈愁人数茎发，故园秋隔五湖云。
Hearing the Cicada
By Zhao Gu (Tang Dynasty) / Tr. Wang Yongli
The noise of cicadas disrupts the air at sunset hour,
The building's inner music fades beyond recall or power.
My sparse gray hairs reveal my sorrow's brand;
Five lakes and clouds divide me from my bless'd land.
14、《蝉》
（唐）薛涛
露涤清音远，风吹数叶齐。
声声似相接，各在一枝栖。
The Cicada
By Xue Tao (Tang Dynasty) / Tr. Wang Yongli
Dew cleans its voice—so far, so clear;
Autumn wind whispers, and leaves join the cheer.
Their notes connect in one unbroken flow,
Yet each alone upon its own bough.
15、《新蝉》
（唐）卢仝
泉溜潜幽咽，琴鸣乍往还。
长风翦不断，还在树枝间。
The New Cicada
By Lu Tong (Tang Dynasty) / Tr. Wang Yongli
The stream murmurs in soft and low refrain,
The zither-like notes suddenly drift and return again.
Strong winds may strive to cut your song in two,
Yet still your voice lingers the branches through.
16、《早蝉》
（唐）雍裕之
一声清溽暑，几处促流年。
志士心偏苦，初闻独泫然。
The Early Cicada
By Yong Yuzhi (Tang Dynasty) / Tr. Wang Yongli
One clear note chases summer’s sultry air,
How swiftly flow the years, here and there!
Men of high purpose bear the deepest woe;
At your first song, their tears begin to flow.
十六首咏蝉英译恪守信达雅准则，以译笔为舟楫跨越山海。文字辗转流转间，蝉鸣古韵走出华夏故土，赋比兴的东方文脉借外文落地生根，让千载唐音跨越地域界限，在异域延续诗意生机。
来源：北京号
作者: 笔力王永利