Alone, in silence, up the west tower I go:
The moon is like a sickle;
That desolate tree of the phoenix, this clear, cool autumn, locked deep in the courtyard below.
O threads I can’t cut through,
In a tangle I can’t undo!
Such is my parting sorrow---
A taste that tastes so odd, so strange that my heart, ne’er ever before did know.
无言独上西楼，月如钩。
寂寞梧桐深院锁清秋。
剪不断，理还乱，是离愁。
别是一般滋味在心头。
This is one of the best lyrics describing the sorrow of separation. We can find that after an implicit description of his loneliness in the first stanza,the poet utters three short lines mirroring the intensity of his sorrow and then the final line revealing the relaxation of his feeling.
Although the first stanza doesn’t openly talk about farewells, the description of the view from the West Tower provides imagery for us to believe so. The desolate courtyard and the lonesome phoenix tree could possibly symbolize Li Yu’s feelings about parting. Describing that although they are parting they are still as connected as ever.
Translated by Andrew W.F. Wong (Huang Hongfa)
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
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