English中文
Song of Jiangcheng: A Dream Recorded on the Night of the Twentieth
十年生死两茫茫，
不思量，
自难忘。
千里孤坟，
无处话凄凉。
纵使相逢应不识，
尘满面，
鬓如霜。
Ten years now, the living and the dead, both far away and lost to sight; not thinking of it, and yet never forgetting. A thousand li away, a lonely grave — nowhere to speak of my desolation. Even should we meet, you would not know me: dust upon my face, and hair like frost.
夜来幽梦忽还乡，
小轩窗，
正梳妆。
相顾无言，
惟有泪千行。
料得年年肠断处，
明月夜，
短松冈。
Last night, in a quiet dream, I suddenly came home: by the little window, you were dressing and arranging your hair. We gazed at each other without a word, and only the tears ran down in a thousand lines. Year after year I know the place where the heart breaks: a bright moonlit night, the low pine ridge.
Reading notes
The yimao year in the title is 1075. This lyric mourns Su Shi’s late wife, Wang Fu. The translation retains li as the traditional unit of distance.