Yuan poet 張養浩 Zhang Yanghao (1270-1329) with a gut-punch of a sanqu:

Peaks and ridges mass,
Waves and billows rage,
Threading mountain and river: the road to Tong Pass.
Pause
and look west to the capital that was:
Where empire after empire had its day
and palace after palace fell to dust.
Dynasties
rise: the little people suffer.
fall: the little people suffer.

《山坡羊·潼关怀古》

峯巒如聚，波濤如怒，山河表裏潼關路。望西都，意躊躇。
傷心秦漢經行處，宮闕萬間都做了土。興，百姓苦；亡，百姓苦！

#ChineseLiterature #Translation #ThemVicissitudes