Friday 4 July 2014

李煜 無言獨上西樓 月如鈎 Wordless, alone, to the West Tower


【相見歡】其一  南唐 • 李煜


    無言獨上西樓，
    月如鈎。
    寂寞梧桐深院
    鎖清秋。
    剪不斷，
    理還亂，
    是離愁。
    別是一般滋味在心頭。


TUNE: XIANG JIAN HUAN 

"Joy in Seeing Each Other"

 TITLE: AUTUMN PASSIONS

 -- Li Yu (937-978)
-- Translated by Frank C Yue
Wordless, alone, to the West Tower I climb 

 the stair;

The Moon, like a curved sword, hangs 

 there.

Held captive in the deep courtyard and its 

 lonesome phoenix tree,

 Is the cool, pure Autumn breeze.
Cut it, it doesn't sever;

 Sort it, as entangled as ever --

 It is a great sorrow to part,

 Creating an entirely different feeling in my 

 heart!

"月如鈎"：

 譯者在這裡把 '鈎' 作 '吴钩'，即 '彎刀' 解釋。

 唐 • 李贺《南国》:

   男儿何不带吴钩，收取关山五十州。 　　
  请君暂上凌烟阁，若个书生万户侯。


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2 comments:

  1. Unknown4 July 2014 at 22:12

    Hi, Frank, allow me to post my rendition:

    【相見歡】其一 南唐 • 李煜
    Poetry tune “Happy to see each other” by Li Yu, Tang Dynasty(South Tang)
    Translated by Alan Ma, July 5, 2014.
    無言獨上西樓，月如鈎。
    寂寞梧桐深院， 鎖清秋。
    剪不斷，理還亂，
    是離愁，別是一般滋味在心頭。

    Speechless I go up the West tower alone,
    The moon is like a crescent in tone.
    The lone Phoenix tree in the deep garden,
    Seems to lock up a cool Autumn well fasten.
    I try to cut the sorrow from my mind but in vain,
    To sort out, it’s more chaotic and cannot refrain..
    It is the sorrow to part,
    What a bitter taste in the heart!

    -End of translation-

    註: 梧桐（學名：Firmiana simplex），中國古代傳說鳳凰「非梧桐不棲」。

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown5 July 2014 at 09:35

    Hi Frank,

    After second thought, the last sentence of the poetry translation should read:

    "What an extraordinary taste in the heart!"

    ReplyDelete