行香子, 七夕

by Li Qingzhao

草際鳴蛩,

驚落梧桐,

正人間天上愁濃。

雲階月地,

關鎖千重。

縱浮媼槎來,

浮槎去,

不相逢。

 

星橋鵲駕,

經年纔見,

想離情別恨難窮。

牽牛織女,

莫是離中。

甚霎兒晴,

霎兒雨,

霎兒風。

 

 

To the Tune of Xing Xiangzi, Qi Xi:
Fragrance in motion, seven dusks

by Li Qingzhao

Evening crickets chirp in the grass

while leaves drop from the parasol tree,

startling.  This season of sorrow

intensifies on earth as in heaven.

Clouds are stairways, moonlight is earth,

yet our way is sealed by a thousand locks.

If floating rafts were to journey

between sea and sky, still

never would the two meet.

 

A star-laden bridge made by magpies

for one annual tryst recalls in heaven

the trials of our separation, endless regrets:

A cattle hand and weaver maiden, in love,

face to face once a year on the celestial bridge.

Perhaps this is why, with our partings,

our emotions clear for only an instant,

followed by sudden rain,

sudden wind.

 

translated from Chinese by Karen An-hwei Lee
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