一剪梅

李清照

紅藕香殘玉簟秋，
輕解羅裳，獨上蘭舟。
云中誰寄錦書來？
雁字回時，月滿西樓。

花自飄零水自流，
一種相思，兩處閑愁。
此情無計可消除，
才下眉頭，卻上心頭。

Key: I Chien Mei
Li Ch’ing-chao

Lotus flowers fade as fall is felt on the bamboo mat.
Gently taking off the silk coat;
Lonesomely embarking the orchid boat.

Who’s to send me love letters from the cloud or mist?
When it’s time that one person returnest,
Full moon shall fill my chamber with joy amidst.

Let the flowers wither and water by itself drift,
For love, there is only one sort,
But sorrow has made two places its resort.

’Tis all in vain trying to dispel this sentiment:
No sooner was it loosened from the brows,
Than up to my heart a new one grows.
（王季文 譯）

To the Melody

Li Qingzhao

The fragrant red lotuses have withered away,
My jade-like mat turns cool on autumn day.
Lightly putting off my skirt or silky coat,
Alone I boarded on the pretty boat.
Looking back, the wild geese fly,
Who’s to send me a letter through clouds’ sky?
My west chamber window’s full of moonlight.

Flowers drift alone out of the smell,
The creek running alone is natural.
There’s one kind of lovesickness,
Coming from two places with sadness.
No way could cure such a sickness,
Just falling down from my eyebrows,
into my heart with sorrows.
（朱曼華 譯）

To the Tune of
A Spray of Flowering Plum
Li Ch’ing-chao

Falling fragrance of pink lotus,
jade-green reeds of autumn.

Gently I unfasten my robe of sheer silk,
And step aboard the orchid boat all by myself.
Who will bring me embroidered letters from the clouds? *
When the wild geese return,
The west balcony is flooded with moonlight.

Flower petals drifting, water flowing,
One and the same longing
Makes two hearts sad with yearning.
There is no way to dissipate this grief:
As the brow ceases frowning,
The heart begins aching.

* During the 2nd century B.C., Su Wu, when he was a captive of the Hsiung Nu, conveyed his loyalty to the Han Emperor by tying a letter to the foot of a wild goose. In time, the expression “the wild goose brings letter from the clouds” has become a customary usage in referring to the delivery of any letter or message.?