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Bath Orchid Fragrance: Dragon Boat Festival Reflections
English Poetic Translation
Silk threads bind the wrist, fine seal scripts droop from hairpins,
Jade sleeps veiled beneath dark gauze, waking slow.
A silver pail by the dew-wet well, a window of painted clouds,
Youthful days linger yet as a faint, distant glow.
I remember once writing poems on pomegranate-red skirts,
Now grieving as fading petals shed their crimson bloom.
Millet-dream years quietly age amid misty river islets,
Where rush-hats fade in the gathering gloom.
Sing not those ancient southern melodies of despair,
Their sorrow cannot summon the sunken soul of the Chu.
Warm winds tend the nesting swallows, dim rains yellow the plums,
At noon, the bronze mirror reflects orchid-bath curtains anew.
Thinking of the storied tower, hoping against hope for return,
I cut calamus leaves to pour a lonely cup of wine.
I can only gaze out as the crescent moon climbs high,
Following lonely wanderers where sky and earth align.
Jade sleeps veiled beneath dark gauze, waking slow.
A silver pail by the dew-wet well, a window of painted clouds,
Youthful days linger yet as a faint, distant glow.
I remember once writing poems on pomegranate-red skirts,
Now grieving as fading petals shed their crimson bloom.
Millet-dream years quietly age amid misty river islets,
Where rush-hats fade in the gathering gloom.
Sing not those ancient southern melodies of despair,
Their sorrow cannot summon the sunken soul of the Chu.
Warm winds tend the nesting swallows, dim rains yellow the plums,
At noon, the bronze mirror reflects orchid-bath curtains anew.
Thinking of the storied tower, hoping against hope for return,
I cut calamus leaves to pour a lonely cup of wine.
I can only gaze out as the crescent moon climbs high,
Following lonely wanderers where sky and earth align.
Classical Chinese & Pinyin
盤絲系腕，巧篆垂簪，玉隱紺紗睡覺。
銀瓶露井，彩雲窗，往事少年依約。
爲當時、曾寫榴裙，傷心紅綃褪萼。
黍夢光陰漸老，汀洲煙箬。
莫唱江南古調，怨抑難招，楚江沈魄。
薰風燕乳，暗雨梅黃，午鏡澡蘭簾幕。
念秦樓、也擬人歸，應翦菖浦自酌。
但悵望、一屢新蟾，隨人天角。
銀瓶露井，彩雲窗，往事少年依約。
爲當時、曾寫榴裙，傷心紅綃褪萼。
黍夢光陰漸老，汀洲煙箬。
莫唱江南古調，怨抑難招，楚江沈魄。
薰風燕乳，暗雨梅黃，午鏡澡蘭簾幕。
念秦樓、也擬人歸，應翦菖浦自酌。
但悵望、一屢新蟾，隨人天角。
Philological Direct Translation
Coiling silk binds wrists, delicate seals hang from hairpins, jade hides under dark gauze waking from sleep.
Silver pitcher at the dew-damp well, painted cloud window, past youth faintly recalled.
For that time, once wrote on pomegranate skirts, heartbroken red silk shedding calyxes.
Millet dream years gradually aging, islets in mist and rush-hat bamboo.
Do not sing southern ancient tunes, grievance and depression hard to summon, Chu river sunken soul.
Warm wind swallows feeding young, dim rain plums turning yellow, noon mirror bath orchid curtain screen.
Pensative Qin tower, also planning for someone's return, should cut calamus to drink alone.
Only gazing with regret, a thread of new toad, following people at the edge of the sky.
Silver pitcher at the dew-damp well, painted cloud window, past youth faintly recalled.
For that time, once wrote on pomegranate skirts, heartbroken red silk shedding calyxes.
Millet dream years gradually aging, islets in mist and rush-hat bamboo.
Do not sing southern ancient tunes, grievance and depression hard to summon, Chu river sunken soul.
Warm wind swallows feeding young, dim rain plums turning yellow, noon mirror bath orchid curtain screen.
Pensative Qin tower, also planning for someone's return, should cut calamus to drink alone.
Only gazing with regret, a thread of new toad, following people at the edge of the sky.