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Su Shi. "To the tune “Always Encountering Joy”—"The Bright Moon is Like Frost"." Global Medieval Sourcebook.Text based on Tang, Guizhang 唐圭璋 (ed.). Quan Song Ci 全宋詞. Vol 1. Beijing: Zhonghua shu ju, 1965, 302. .
永遇樂 | To the tune “Always Encountering Joy”
Source Information
永遇樂 | To the tune “Always Encountering Joy”
by Su Shi
Text Source:
Text based on Tang, Guizhang 唐圭璋 (ed.). Quan Song Ci 全宋詞. Vol 1. Beijing: Zhonghua shu ju, 1965, 302.
Responsibility Statement:
- Text based on Tang, Guizhang 唐圭璋 (ed.). Quan Song Ci 全宋詞. Vol 1. Beijing: Zhonghua shu ju, 1965, 302.
- Translation by Qian Jia
- Notes by Nina Du, Runqi Zhang, and Dante Zhu
- Encoded in TEI P5 XML by Manya Bansal and Dante Zhu
Editorial Principles:
Texts are translated into modern English with maximum fidelity to the original text, except where it would impair comprehension or good style. Archaisms are preserved where they do not conflict with the aesthetic of the original text. Creative translation choices are marked and discussed in the critical notes.
The original text of this ci is based on the edition by Tang Guizhang 唐圭璋 (Quan Song Ci 全宋詞. Vol 1. Beijing: Zhonghua shu ju, 1965). Punctuation follows the edition. Since ci poetry rarely includes personal pronouns, and gender-differentiated pronouns did not exist in Classical Chinese of this period, the gender of the speaker as well as their perspective (e.g. first, second or third person) must often be deduced by the translator from context.
Punctuation follows the edition.Publication Details:
Published by The Global Medieval Sourcebook.
The Global Medieval Sourcebook is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
永遇樂 To the tune “Always Encountering Joy”
彭城夜宿燕子樓 Staying the night in the Swallow Tower in Pengcheng
夢盼盼因作此詞 and dreaming about Panpan, I composed this song.
c
Critical note:
Pengcheng was the name of a place near present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. Guan Panpan was a courtesan and became the concubine of a Tang Dynasty general. She swore to remain chaste for her lover and kept that promise for ten years after her lover’s death, until she herself passed away. The Swallow Tower was where she lived alone after her lover's death.
明月如霜， The moon shines so brightly that it looks like frost covers the ground,
好風如水， the pleasant wind is cool like water,
清景無限。 the pure view is boundless.
曲港跳魚， In the winding pond
c
, fish jump; Critical note:
This probably refers to a U-shaped pond.
5
圓荷瀉露， dew drops fall from the round lotus leaves. 寂寞無人見。 [they are] lonely, for no one sees.
紞如三鼓， Bum and brum, the drum of midnight,
鏗然一葉， loud and clear—a leaf falls
c
. Critical note:
The speaker uses hyperbole, comparing the sound of a leaf falling to the beat of a drum to emphasize the quietness of the night.
黯黯夢雲驚斷。 In the darkness, my dream of cloud
c
is abruptly cut short. Critical note:
“Dream of cloud” alludes to a work by Song Yu 宋玉, who lived during the Warring States period (453–221 BCE). This work, the Song of Gao Tang (高唐赋), narrates a brief love affair between the Huai King of Chu 楚怀王 and a mountain fairy which takes place in the king’s dream; in this dream, the mountain fairy describes her residence after their lovemaking as “made from the cloud in the morning, but comprised of rain in the evening”. The imagery of cloud and rain is often used as a euphemism for sexual intercourse in Chinese poetry. Here, however, the context indicates that the "dream of cloud" simply refers to meeting a beautiful woman (Guan Panpan) in a dream.
10
夜茫茫， The night is vast and obscure, 重尋無處， nowhere could I find the things [that I dreamt of] again.
覺來小園行遍。 Awoken, I walk around in the small garden.
天涯倦客， I am an exhausted traveler at the edge of the world,
山中歸路， longing to return to the mountains.
15
望斷故園心眼。 I stare in the direction of my hometown yet it is so far away that my eyes wear out. 燕子樓空， The Swallow Tower
c
is empty. Critical note:
See first note, above.
佳人何在， Where is the fair one?
空鎖樓中燕。 The swallow is locked in the empty tower.
古今如夢， The past and the present are like dreams;
20
何曾夢覺， when do we ever wake up from them? 但有舊歡新怨。 There is just old love and new regrets.
異時對， In some future time,
黃樓夜景， In the night scene of the Yellow Tower,
c
Critical note:
Yellow Tower is another famous tower near present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. Su Shi renovated the Yellow Tower while he was posted in Pengcheng.
爲餘浩嘆。 I hope that someone will utter a long sigh for me.
永遇樂 To the tune “Always Encountering Joy”
彭城夜宿燕子樓 Staying the night in the Swallow Tower in Pengcheng
夢盼盼因作此詞 and dreaming about Panpan, I composed this song.
c
Critical note:
Pengcheng was the name of a place near present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. Guan Panpan was a courtesan and became the concubine of a Tang Dynasty general. She swore to remain chaste for her lover and kept that promise for ten years after her lover’s death, until she herself passed away. The Swallow Tower was where she lived alone after her lover's death.
明月如霜， The moon shines so brightly that it looks like frost covers the ground,
好風如水， the pleasant wind is cool like water,
清景無限。 the pure view is boundless.
曲港跳魚， In the winding pond
c
, fish jump; Critical note:
This probably refers to a U-shaped pond.
5
圓荷瀉露， dew drops fall from the round lotus leaves. 寂寞無人見。 [they are] lonely, for no one sees.
紞如三鼓， Bum and brum, the drum of midnight,
鏗然一葉， loud and clear—a leaf falls
c
. Critical note:
The speaker uses hyperbole, comparing the sound of a leaf falling to the beat of a drum to emphasize the quietness of the night.
黯黯夢雲驚斷。 In the darkness, my dream of cloud
c
is abruptly cut short. Critical note:
“Dream of cloud” alludes to a work by Song Yu 宋玉, who lived during the Warring States period (453–221 BCE). This work, the Song of Gao Tang (高唐赋), narrates a brief love affair between the Huai King of Chu 楚怀王 and a mountain fairy which takes place in the king’s dream; in this dream, the mountain fairy describes her residence after their lovemaking as “made from the cloud in the morning, but comprised of rain in the evening”. The imagery of cloud and rain is often used as a euphemism for sexual intercourse in Chinese poetry. Here, however, the context indicates that the "dream of cloud" simply refers to meeting a beautiful woman (Guan Panpan) in a dream.
10
夜茫茫， The night is vast and obscure, 重尋無處， nowhere could I find the things [that I dreamt of] again.
覺來小園行遍。 Awoken, I walk around in the small garden.
天涯倦客， I am an exhausted traveler at the edge of the world,
山中歸路， longing to return to the mountains.
15
望斷故園心眼。 I stare in the direction of my hometown yet it is so far away that my eyes wear out. 燕子樓空， The Swallow Tower
c
is empty. Critical note:
See first note, above.
佳人何在， Where is the fair one?
空鎖樓中燕。 The swallow is locked in the empty tower.
古今如夢， The past and the present are like dreams;
20
何曾夢覺， when do we ever wake up from them? 但有舊歡新怨。 There is just old love and new regrets.
異時對， In some future time,
黃樓夜景， In the night scene of the Yellow Tower,
c
Critical note:
Yellow Tower is another famous tower near present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. Su Shi renovated the Yellow Tower while he was posted in Pengcheng.
爲餘浩嘆。 I hope that someone will utter a long sigh for me.
Critical Notes
Translation
Unnumbered line
Critical note: Pengcheng was the name of a place near present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. Guan Panpan was a courtesan and became the concubine of a Tang Dynasty general. She swore to remain chaste for her lover and kept that promise for ten years after her lover’s death, until she herself passed away. The Swallow Tower was where she lived alone after her lover's death.
Translation
Line number 4
Critical note: This probably refers to a U-shaped pond.
Translation
Line number 8
Critical note: The speaker uses hyperbole, comparing the sound of a leaf falling to the beat of a drum to emphasize the quietness of the night.
Translation
Line number 9
Critical note: “Dream of cloud” alludes to a work by Song Yu 宋玉, who lived during the Warring States period (453–221 BCE). This work, the Song of Gao Tang (高唐赋), narrates a brief love affair between the Huai King of Chu 楚怀王 and a mountain fairy which takes place in the king’s dream; in this dream, the mountain fairy describes her residence after their lovemaking as “made from the cloud in the morning, but comprised of rain in the evening”. The imagery of cloud and rain is often used as a euphemism for sexual intercourse in Chinese poetry. Here, however, the context indicates that the "dream of cloud" simply refers to meeting a beautiful woman (Guan Panpan) in a dream.
Translation
Line number 16
Critical note: See first note, above.
Translation
Line number 23
Critical note: Yellow Tower is another famous tower near present-day Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. Su Shi renovated the Yellow Tower while he was posted in Pengcheng.
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