梅堯臣 不知夢 translation: I Do Not Know If I Am Dreaming, by Mei Yaochen

This is a very rough annotation / translation of the poem 不知夢 (Bù Zhī Mèng), ‘I Do Not Know If I Am Dreaming’, by the Song Dynasty Chinese poet 梅堯臣 (Méi Yáochén).

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不知夢 Bù Zhī Mèng [not] [know] [dream] I Do Not Know If I Am Dreaming

夢中不知夢， Mèng zhōng bùzhī mèng, [dream] [in] [not] [know] [dream] In a dream I do not know I am dreaming,

但謂平常時。 dàn wèi píngcháng shí. [but] [speak] [ordinary][] [time] but speak normally.

相與共笑言， Xiāng yǔ gòng xiào yán, [with] [and] [together] [laugh] [speak] Talking and laughing together with you;

焉問久別離。 yān wèn jiǔ biélí. [how] [ask] [long time] [separate] [away] how can we speak of our long separation?

有贈若有得， Yǒu zèng ruò yǒu dé, [have] [gift] [like] [have] [got] It is as if one receives a gift,

及覺已失之。 jí jué yǐ shī zhī. [at] [wake] [already] [lose] [it] but has already lost it upon waking.

人生在世間， Rénshēng zài shìjiān, [person] [life] [in] [world] [among] Human life in this human world -

何異夢寐為。 hé yì mèngmèi wèi. [what] [different] [dream] [sleep] [be] how different it is from one's dreams.

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