English中文
Reduced Magnolia: Old Grief at the World's End
天涯旧恨，
独自凄凉人不问。
欲见回肠，
断尽金炉小篆香。
An old grief at the sky's edge: alone, desolate, and no one asks after me. To see how my heart twists in sorrow, watch the seal-script coils of incense burn to their end in the golden brazier.
黛蛾长敛，
任是春风吹不展。
困倚危楼，
过尽飞鸿字字愁。
The moth-dark brows stay knit; even the spring wind cannot smooth them. Weary, I lean against the high tower; the wild geese pass over, line after line of sorrow.
Reading notes
小篆香 evokes incense coiled like seal-script characters, echoing the speaker’s twisting sorrow. 黛蛾 refers to dark, slender eyebrows; 危楼 means a high tower.