English中文
Magpie on the Branch: Where Have the Drifting Clouds Gone?
几日行云何处去？
忘却归来，
不道春将暮。
百草千花寒食路，
香车系在谁家树？
These many days, where has the drifting cloud gone? It forgets to return, and does not care that spring is ending. A hundred grasses and a thousand flowers along the Cold Food road; the fragrant carriage is tethered to whose tree?
泪眼倚楼频独语。
双燕来时，
陌上相逢否？
撩乱春愁如柳絮，
依依梦里无寻处。
With tear-filled eyes she leans upon the tower and speaks alone. When the paired swallows come — did you meet him upon the path? The tangled grief of spring is like willow catkins: even in lingering dreams, he is nowhere to be found.
Reading notes
忘却 also appears as 忘了, 双燕来时 as 双燕飞来, and 依依 as 悠悠. This page retains the former wordings. 系 means “to tether” and is read jì; 燕 is read yàn. The drifting cloud evokes the absent person, still beyond reach even in dreams.