Endless Longing: No. 1
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
在长安。
络纬秋啼金井阑，
微霜凄凄簟色寒。
孤灯不明思欲绝，
卷帷望月空长叹。
美人如花隔云端。
上有青冥之长天，
下有渌水之波澜。
天长路远魂飞苦，
梦魂不到关山难。
长相思，
摧心肝。
English translation
Long, long is my longing — and it is in Chang'an.
The cricket cries in autumn by the golden well-rail; the thin frost is cold, the color of the mat is cold.
The lonely lamp burns dim, my longing is near despair; I roll up the curtain, gaze at the moon, and sigh in vain.
The fair one is like a flower, beyond the clouds.
Above is the vast blue of the high sky; below, the ripples of the clear water.
Heaven is long, the road far, my soul flies in bitterness; my dreaming soul cannot win through — the passes and hills are hard.
Long, long is my longing — it breaks my heart and liver.
Meaning
Day and night I long for him; the one I long for is in Chang'an.
In the autumn night the cricket sings by the well rail; thin frost has soaked the bamboo mat, so clear and cold.
At night my longing soul would break; a lonely lamp keeps me company, dim and dark. I roll up the blind and look at the bright moon, and sigh in vain to the moon alone.
Beauty fair as flower and jade — she seems parted from me beyond the clouds!
Above there is the vast sky, dim and boundless; below there are clear waters rolling up waves ten thousand fathoms high.
Heaven is long and earth is far, the journey by day and night is full of hardship; even the dreaming soul can hardly fly over these ranges of mountains and passes.
Day and night I long for him; the grief of longing severs my heart.
Background
Read the background
This poem, "Endless Longing," the first of its set, is generally dated to after Li Bai was "granted gold and sent back to the mountains"; it is probably a work in which he recalled his past feelings in contemplation after having been elbowed out of Chang'an.