by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762)
Translation by Harold Witter Bynner (1881 - 1968)

長相思之一
Language: Chinese (中文) 
長相思，
在長安。
絡緯秋啼金井闌，
微霜淒淒簟色寒。
孤燈不明思欲絕，
卷帷望月空長歎。
美人如花隔雲端，
上有青冥之長天，
下有淥水之波瀾。
天長路遠魂飛苦，
夢魂不到關山難。
長相思，
摧心肝。

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-07-28
Line count: 13
Word count: 13

Endless yearning I
Language: English  after the Chinese (中文) 
"I am endlessly yearning
To be in Changan.
...Insects hum of autumn by the gold brim of the well;
A thin frost glistens like little mirrors on my cold mat;
The high lantern flickers; and. deeper grows my longing.
I lift the shade and, with many a sigh, gaze upon the moon,
Single as a flower, centred from the clouds.
Above, I see the blueness and deepness of sky.
Below, I see the greenness and the restlessness of water....
Heaven is high, earth wide; bitter between them flies my sorrow.
Can I dream through the gateway, over the mountain?
Endless longing
Breaks my heart."

Text Authorship:

Based on:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-07-28
Line count: 13
Word count: 104