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080 李白 長相思·其一 translation: Endless Mutual Longing, Pt. 1, by Lǐ Bái

This is a translation and annotation of the poem 長相思·其一 (Cháng Xiāng Sī · Qí Yī), “Endless Mutual Longing, Pt. 1”, by the Tang dynasty poet 李白 (Lǐ Bái). The poem is #080 in the collection 300 Tang Poems.

長相思·其一 Cháng Xiāng Sī · Qí Yī [long] [mutual] [longing] [its] [one] Endless Mutual Longing, Pt. 1

長相思，在長安， cháng xiāng sī, zài Cháng Ān [long] [mutual] [longing] [at] [long] [peace] Endless mutual longing — in Chang'an;

絡緯秋啼金井闌， luò wěi qiū tí jīn jǐng lán [cricket] [cricket] [autumn] [cry] [gold] [well] [railing] crickets in autumn call by the gold well railing;

微霜淒淒簟色寒。 wēi shuāng qī qī diàn sè hán [slight] [frost] [bleak] [bleak] [bamboo mat] [look] [cold] slight frost, so bleak, bamboo mats appear cold.

孤燈不明思欲絕， gū dēng bù míng sī yù jué [lonely] [lamp] [not] [bright] [longing] [will] [exhaust] A lonely lamp not bright, longing near exhaustion. 欲 might be ambiguous here as it could mean “desire”.

卷帷望月空長歎， juǎn wéi wàng yuè kōng cháng tàn [roll] [curtain] [gaze] [moon] [futile] [long] [sigh] drawing back the curtain, gazing at the moon, a futile long sigh;

美人如花隔雲端。 měi rén rú huā gé yún duān [beautiful] [person] [like] [flower] [separate] [cloud] [edge] the beautiful person like a flower — apart at cloud’s edge.

上有青冥之長天， shàng yǒu qīng míng zhī cháng tiān [above] [have] [blue] [dark] ['s] [long] [sky] Above is the blue dark endless sky;

下有淥水之波瀾。 xià yǒu lù shuǐ zhī bō lán [below] [have] [clear] [water] ['s] [wave] [billow] below are the clear water's waves and billows.

天長路遠魂飛苦， tiān cháng lù yuǎn hún fēi kǔ [sky] [long] [road] [far] [soul] [fly] [bitter] The sky long, the road far, the soul's flight bitter;

夢魂不到關山難。 mèng hún bú dào guān shān nán [dream] [soul] [not] [arrive] [pass] [mountain] [hard] the dream soul does not arrive — the passes and mountains are hard.

長相思，摧心肝。 cháng xiāng sī, cuī xīn gān [long] [mutual] [longing] [break] [heart] [liver] endless mutual longing, breaking the heart and liver. 心肝 refers to deep affection or the object thereof.


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