迢迢牽牛星 translation - So Remote, the Draught Ox Star

This is a translation of the Chinese poem 迢迢牽牛星 (Tiáo tiáo qiān niú xīng), the tenth poem in the Han dynasty collection 古詩十九首 (Nineteen Old Poems).

迢迢牽牛星 tiáo tiáo qiān niú xīng [remote] [remote] [pull] [ox] [star] So remote, the Draught Ox star,

皎皎河漢女 jiǎo jiǎo hé hàn nǚ [bright] [bright] [river] [_Han_] [girl] While_ the Weaver Girl _shines brightly in the Milky Way.

纖纖擢素手 xiān xiān zhuó sù shǒu [delicate] [delicate] [pull up] [pale] [hand] Delicately she lifts a pale hand,

札札弄機杼 zhá zhá nòng jī zhù [clack] [clack] [handle] [machine] [shuttle] clack, clack goes the shuttle of her loom.

終日不成章 zhōng rì bù chéng zhāng [end] [day] [not] [finish] [section] All day long without finish,

泣涕零如雨 qì tì líng rú yǔ [sob] [tears][] [like] [rain] she sobs and sheds tears like rain.

河漢清且淺 hé hàn qīng qiě qiǎn [river] [Han] [clear] [and] [shallow] The Milky Way is clear and shallow;

相去復幾許 xiāng qù fù jǐ xǔ [each other] [remove] [go back] [almost] [permit] they are but a tiny distance from each other,

盈盈一水間 yíng yíng yī shuǐ jiān [full] [full] [one] [water] [space] at most the width of a stream,

脈脈不得語 mò mò bù dé yǔ [affection][] [not] [get] [speech] yet their affection can never speak.

Relevant books

• Chinese Lyricism (Burton Watson) - has a lot of quality translations and analysis
• Popular Songs and Ballads of Han China (Anne Birrell) - more general insight into verse from this period