梅堯臣 夢覺 translation: Waking from a Dream, by Mei Yaochen

This is a very rough annotation / translation of the poem 夢覺 (Mèng Jué), ‘Waking from a Dream’, by the Song Dynasty Chinese poet 梅堯臣 (Méi Yáochén).

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夢覺 Mèng Jué [dream] [wake] Waking from a Dream

夕夢多夢之， Xī mèng duō mèng zhī, [night] [dream] [most] [dream] [her] At night dreaming, I mostly dream of her;

覺來遂成憶。 jué lái suì chéng yì. [wake] [come] [then] [become] [memory] on waking it becomes a memory.

憶子生平時， Yì zǐ shēng píngshí, [remember] [you] [life] [normal] [time] I remember when you were alive,

事往無一得。 shì wǎng wú yī dé. [thing] [past] [not] [one] [get] of things past I achieved not one.

信若此夢寐， Xìn ruò cǐ mèngmèi, [believe] [like] [this] [dream] [sleep soundly] If I believe in such a deep dream,

豈不見顏色。 qǐ bùjiàn yánsè. [how] [not] [see] [face][] how can I not see your face?

復存來告言， Fù cún lái gào yán, [return] [keep] [come] [tell] [speech] You return again and speak to me,

言虛音匪默。 yán xū yīn fěi mò. [speech] [empty] [voice] [silent][] but the words are empty, your voice silent.

是覺曷為真， Shì jué hé wéi zhēn, [this] [wake] [how] [be] [real] How could this waking be real? -

覺夢可以惑。 jué mèng kěyǐ huò. [wake] [dream] [can] [take] [confuse] Waking from a dream can make one confused.

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