Galleries and Translations > Recent Works / Poetry and Others > Lyrics to A Sprig of Plum Blossom 《 一剪梅 ∙ 紅藕香殘玉簟秋 》
Lyrics to A Sprig of Plum Blossom
(《 一剪梅 ∙ 紅藕香殘玉簟秋 》)
Translation
Original Chinese
English Translation
1. 紅藕香殘玉簟秋,
The red lotus (紅藕, 1) flower (香, 2) withered, the bamboo mat (玉簟, 3) tattered (秋, 4),
2. 輕解羅裳, 獨上蘭舟.
Relaxing (輕解, 5) my silk outerwear, I board a small boat (蘭舟, 6) with no other.
3. 雲中誰寄錦書來?
Who (my husband) in Yunzhong (雲中, where Li's husband was obsessively looking for ancient relics of inscriptions, 7) will send me a love letter (錦書, 8)?
4. 雁字回時, 月滿西樓.
When the flock of geese (雁字, 9) returns, we shall enjoy the full moon at the West Pavilion (Xi Lou, 西樓) together.
5. 花自飄零水自流,
6. 一種相思, 兩處閒愁.
7. 此情無計可消除,
8. 才下眉頭, 卻上心頭.
(translated by KS Vincent POON, December 2024)
FOR FURTHER TRANSLATION AND CORRECTIONS TO COMMON MISINTERPRETATIONS, REMARKS, AND FOOTNOTES, PLEASE SEE :
The Correct Interpretations and English Translations of Tang Poems and Song Lyrical Poems - Accompanied with Calligraphy and Vernacular Chinese
唐宋詩詞正解並英譯 附書法白話 NEW
by KS Vincent POON & Kwok Kin POON (May. 2025)
ISBN 978-1-989485-39-2
This book provides concise and correct translations of several popular Tang poems (唐詩) and Song lyrical poems (宋詞), including those by Li Bai (李白, 701-762 AD), Bai Juyi (白居易,772-846 AD), Xue Ying (薛瑩, ?-? AD), Su Shi (蘇軾, 1037-1101 AD), Li Qingzhao (李清照, 1084 - 1151 AD), and Lu You (陸游, 1125-1210 AD). Annotated line-by-line translations are presented in neat and simple words that are easy to understand, with each line's true meaning revealed by extensive research. Vernacular Chinese translations are also given. In addition, every poem is accompanied by Chinese calligraphy to enhance readers' appreciation of traditional Chinese culture.
Tang poems and Song lyrical poems are known for their elegant and straightforward language. Yet, Chinese interpretations often contain critical mistakes. Most English translations additionally suffer from excessive fancy language that is hard to follow. This book aims to fix all these maladies of arbitrariness, which is relatively common in both Eastern and Western academia.
WorldCat/Library: Coming Soon.
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