《人间词话》英译（八十九）

“池塘春草谢家春，万古千秋五字新。传语闭门陈正字，可怜无补费精神。”此遗山《论诗绝句》也。梦窗、玉田辈，当不乐闻此语。

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Spring grasses by the pond—such is Hsieh’s spring.

Over the years his five words are still fresh.

Please send this message to Proofreader Ch’en shut in his room:

‘Too bad you struggle so hard, so hard in vain.’

This is one of Yuan Hao-wen’s quatrains ‘Lun shih’ (On poetry). Wu Wen-ying, Chang Yen, and other poets like them would certainly ont be happy to receive such a message.