Lament of the Jade Zither
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
碧天如水夜云轻。
雁声远过潇湘去，
十二楼中月自明。
English translation
On the cool mat, by the silver bed, sleep will not come, the blue sky like water, the night clouds drifting light.
The wild geese's cries pass far away toward Xiaoxiang, and in the twelve-storied tower the moon shines on alone.
Meaning
On an autumn night the bed mat is cold and even dreams are hard to make; the vast sky is clear as water, and the night clouds drift lightly. The wild geese cry sharply as they fly far off past the Xiao and Xiang rivers; deep in the night in the twelve towers only the moon sheds its cold light.
Background
Read the background
This poem is recorded in the forty-fourth juan of the Ten Thousand Quatrains by Tang Poets. Wen Tingyun, frustrated in his official career, wrote a great many poems on the theme of a woman's longing in the inner chambers; "Grief of the Jade Zither" is one of them.