Galleries and Translations > Recent Works / Poetry and Others > Lyrics to Professing My Innermost Passion 《 訴衷情 ∙ 當年萬里覓封侯 》
Lyrics to Professing My Innermost Passion
by Lu You
( 陸游《 訴衷情 ∙ 當年萬里覓封侯 》)
101 X 55 cm
Lyrics to Professing My Innermost Passion
(《 訴衷情 ∙ 當年萬里覓封侯 》)
Translation
Original Chinese
English Translation
1. 當年萬里覓封侯,
In my prime (當年, 1), I cast my aspiration far and wide (萬里, 2) to seek (覓封) titles of military glory (侯).
2. 匹馬戍梁州.
Alas, how I longed to defend (戍, 3) Langzhou (梁州, 4) single-handedly (匹馬, 5).
3. 關河夢斷何處,
Awakened from the dream (夢斷, 6) of retaking Guanhe (關河, 7), where is it now, actually?
4. 塵暗舊貂裘.
What's left is only my old fur coat (貂裘, 8), all dull (暗) and dusty (塵).
5. 胡未滅,
6. 鬢先秋,
7. 淚空流.
8. 此生誰料,
9. 心在天山,
10. 身老滄洲!
(translated by KS Vincent POON, January 2025)
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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