葬花吟
Rhyme for the Burial of Flowers
花谢花飞飞满天，红消香断有谁怜？
游丝软系飘春榭，落絮轻沾扑绣帘。
Flowers shed and fly, eclipsing the sky
Fading their hues and scents in no one’s concern
Gossamers tangled to the pavilion flutter in the air
Catkins softly strike the curtains and caught on there
闺中女儿惜春暮，愁绪满怀无释处。
手把花锄出绣帘，忍踏落花来复去？
The maid taken by compassion for the late spring
Sorrow swells in her and finds no one to share
Stepping out through the curtain with a delicate hoe
Dare not tread on the fallen petals back and forth
柳丝榆荚自芳菲，不管桃飘与李飞。
桃李明年能再发，明年闺中知有谁？
Willow catkins, Elm-pods still make sweet scents
Despite peach and plum sending petals in flights
Peach and plum will blossom again the coming year
But will the maid in the room be the same?
三月香巢已垒成，梁间燕子太无情！
明年花发虽可啄，却不道人去梁空巢也倾。
The scented nest finely built by the third month
Swallows on the beam have no heart for the maid
The coming year they will again peck the new blooms
Not yet knowing her house emptied and their nest fallen
一年三百六十日，风刀霜剑严相逼。
明媚鲜妍能几时？一朝漂泊难寻觅。
Three hundred and sixty days packed between
Winds and frosts threaten like swords and blades
The young and delicate endure not their strikes
One day expelled and will never relocate
花开易见落难寻，阶前闷杀葬花人。
独倚花锄泪暗洒，洒上空枝见血痕。
Blooms well beheld, once shed are out of sight
Grieved the flower burier comes by the stairs
Leaning on the lone hoe and weeping unseen
Tears blown to the empty boughs and turn blood bright
杜鹃无语正黄昏，荷锄归去掩重门。
青灯照壁人初睡，冷雨敲窗被未温。
Cuckoos cease their songs as dusk arrives
Returning with the hoe on her shoulder and shut the doors behind
The pale lamp lights the wall as the maid goes to bed
Rain beats the window cold and her quilt warmed not yet
怪奴底事倍伤神？半为怜春半恼春。
怜春忽至恼忽去，至又无言去不闻。
What to blame myself in this spirit tormenting
Half in affection and half resentment for the spring
Affection for its arrival, resentment for its departure
It comes wordless and once left never again heard
昨宵庭外悲歌发，知是花魂与鸟魂。
花魂鸟魂总难留，鸟自无言花自羞。
The past night sad tunes rose in the courtyard
Decide not by spirit of the flowers or the birds
But neither can you invite to longer stay
Birds are absent of promises and flowers reluctant
愿奴胁下生双翼，随花飞到天尽头。
天尽头，何处有香丘？
I wish for wings to grow under my arms
Fly along the flowers to the edge of the world
Edge of the world
A noble site nowhere to find
未若锦囊收艳骨，一抷净土掩风流！
质本洁来还洁去，强于污淖陷渠沟。
Wiser to gather the fair bones into a silk bag
And bury in a handful of pure soil
Coming clean and leaving clean
Superior to mingling in mire or ditch
尔今死去侬收葬，未卜侬身何日丧？
侬今葬花人笑痴，他年葬侬知有谁？
On your death day I come to your service
My death day is not yet to be foretold
Others laugh at my folly burying flowers
When my day comes who will bury me?
试看春残花渐落，便是红颜老死时。
一朝春尽红颜老，花落人亡两不知！
Then only need to see how spring declines
To tell the final moments of the aged maid
In some morning when spring closes, both the flowers drop
And the maid dies outside the view of the world!
2017.8
