锦瑟
李商隐
锦瑟无端五十弦,一弦一柱思华年。
庄生晓梦迷蝴蝶,望帝春心托杜鹃。
沧海月明珠有泪,蓝田日暖玉生烟。
此情可待成追忆? 只是当时已惘然。
The Zither
Li Shangyin
On the pretty zither there chance to be fifty strings,
Each string with its supporter to my past years me brings.
In morning dream Zhuang Zhou thought himself a butterfly;
Emperor Wang expressed his spring grief through cuckoo’s cry.
In the vast moonlit sea, the mermaid’s tears turn out pearls;
In the hot sunshine, the jade in Blue Field spreads smoke curls.
Are these strong feelings only to be later recalled?
At the very first they were felt, one must have been galled.