TUNE: BUDDHIST DANCERS

Su Xiang

(Southern Song Dynasty)

I remember I was drunk before flowers last year,

But now with flowers fallen, languid I appear.

Wheat undulates like waves 'neath the fine sky;

I'm saddened by cuckoos' home-going cry.

Where can I find message-bearing wild geese?

On locust trees blows early summer breeze.

My home's beyond rainbow cloud's dream;

I'm grieved to see the full moon on the stream.

菩萨蛮

[南宋]苏庠

年时记着花前醉,

而今花落人憔悴。

麦浪卷晴川,

杜鹃声可怜。

有书无雁寄,

初夏槐风细。

家在落霞边,

愁逢江月圆。

About the poet 

Su Xiang was a Southern Song Dynasty(1127-1279) poet known for his works that focused on leisurely everyday life.  

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 

300 Song lyrics Translated by Xu Yuanchong Published by China Intercontinental Press