TUNE: THE BEAUTIFUL LADY YU

Li Yu

(Southern Tang Dynasty)

When will there be no more an autumn moon 

and spring time flowers

For me who had so many memorable hours?

My attic which last night in the east wind did stand

Reminds me cruelly of the lost moonlit land.

Carved balustrades and marble steps must still be there,

But rosy faces cannot be as fair.

If you would ask me how my sorrow has increased,

Just see the over-brimming river flowing east!

虞美人

[南唐]李煜

春花秋月何时了,

往事知多少。

小楼昨夜又东风,

故国不堪回首月明中。

雕栏玉砌应犹在,

只是朱颜改。

问君能有几多愁？

恰似一江春水向东流。

About the poet 

Li Yu was the last emperor of the Southern Tang state during the Five Dynasties (907-960) period. He has been called the first true master of the classic Chinese lyric poetry known as ci.

About the translator 

Xu Yuanchong (1921-2021) was born in Nanchang in East China's Jiangxi Province. He was a professor of literary translation at Peking University.

About the book 

Selected Lyrics of Tang and Five Dynasties Translated by Xu Yuanchong Published by China Intercontinental Press, Beijing, 2019