English中文
Nü Guanzi: Last Night at Midnight
昨夜夜半，
枕上分明梦见，
语多时。
依旧桃花面，
频低柳叶眉。
Last night at midnight, upon my pillow I dreamed of you clearly; we talked for a long while. Your face was still the peach blossom; your brows, willow-leaf fine, were often lowered.
半羞还半喜，
欲去又依依。
觉来知是梦，
不胜悲。
Half shy and half joyous; wanting to go, yet still clinging. Waking, I know that it was a dream — I cannot bear the grief.
Reading notes
This lyric follows Nü Guanzi: The Seventeenth of the Fourth Month, moving from a meeting in a dream to grief on waking. 还 means “and also” and is read hái, rather than huán, “to return.” 觉来 means waking; 依依 expresses reluctance to part.