小重山.春到长门春草青 原作：李清照 英译：戈登.奥赛茵、闵晓红 春到长门春草青， 江梅些子破， 未开匀。 碧云笼碾玉成尘， 留残梦， 惊破一瓯春。 花影压重门， 疏帘铺淡月， 好黄昏。 二年三度负东君， 归来也， 著意过今春。 Spring Finds also a Lady’s Seclusion with Returning Green - to the Tune of Xiaochongshan Translated by Gordon Osing and Julia Min Spring finds also a lady's seclusion with returning green; some plum tree branches are budded, and blossoming. Crushing green tea-balls to jade dust in my pot, I reenter my dream, till startled by Spring's bubbling. The shadows of tiered blooms are pressing my doors, spreading to the bamboo blinds gently by the moon. It's two years or three we've let down Spring gods. Come home. Let’s not waste the vibrant season. Appreciation: This ci, too, was composed before Li Qingzhao turned twenty-four years old, before the year 1107. Here she knows her husband is coming home after his absence on official duties for over two years. Her happiness and expectant desire are glowing like a rainbow. The tone here is lively, witty and light. Pinying and Word -For-Word Translation: xiǎo zhòng shān - to the tune of Xiaochongshan chūn dào chǎng mén chūn cǎo qīng - spring reaches Changmen spring grass green; jiāng méi xiē zǐ pò - plum buds a little burst; wèi kāi yún - not yet bloom even; bì yún lóng niǎn yù chéng chén - dark green clouds container ground jade into dust; liú cán mèng – recalling fragments of dream; jīng pò yī ōu chūn – startled by a pot of spring; huā yǐng yā chóng mén – flowers shadow weigh down multiple doors,; shū lián pū dàn yuè – thin curtain spread dimlight moon; hǎo huáng hūn – good dusk; èr nián sān dù fù dōng jun – two years three times let down Spring God; guī lái yě – return please; zhúo yì guò jīn chūn –focus spend this spring; Notes: 1. "chang men": simply means boudoir , but the characters are also associated with the tale of the Han Empress Chen, who fell from favor with her emperor and was banished to her own Changmen palace boudoir. She paid some great sum of money to the great poet Si Maru to write about her lonely exile in her quarters, which touched the emperor so much so he ended her isolation. This famous work is a prose called "Chang Men Fu". 2. "bi yun ":dark green cloud, i.e., pulverized. In the Song era, tea was kept in small balls, which some people ground into pieces or powder before boiling in water. 3. liu can …”: She daydreamed until the boiling tea wakened her. 4. "ya chong men ": shadows press door, a charming figure of thought, a sort of transferred epithet embodying her own pressing desires. 5. "pu dan yue ": another transferred epithet for the gentle relentlessness of her own anticipations. 6. "er nian san du": three times in more than two years;

浣溪沙·小院闲窗春色深 原作：李清照 英译：闵晓红 小院闲窗春色深， 重帘未卷影沉沉。 倚楼无语理瑶琴。 远岫出云催薄暮， 细风吹雨弄轻阴， 梨花欲谢恐难禁。 诗词朗读（刘江，2021） The Garden Holds Spring with her Last Blooms - To the tune of Huanxisha Translated by Julia Min The garden holds Spring with her last blooms by the windows ignored, all blinds unrolled. A lady plays on the qin, not sure for whom, at dusk in her boudoir, gloomy and subdued, The sun sinks behind hills under the blue, painting the misty clouds with golden hues. A blind breeze plays around some raindrops, Oblivious to the falling of pear blooms. Appreciation: This is a piece of boudoir sentiment in the 12th century. Li Qingzhao is generally recognized as the author though some scholars reckon this ci of a different source. It was indeed quite popular in the Tang and Song that gentlemen wrote in the tone of a lady. I would choose to believe Yi’an wrote it describing her sentiments on the vanishing of spring days which is symbolic of her youth, a lonely night at the time of her creation. The poem was created with everyday vocabulary but each also tinged with symbolic meanings e.g. ‘windows ignored’ ,’blinds unrolled’, ‘speechless’, ‘twilight’ at dusk’, and ‘the falling of pear blossoms’. The stage sequence follows her personal experience starting from her garden by her chamber windows, and then moves inside. Next she went upstairs where she had a view of the distance, and back again to her garden. It’s a typical pattern in Chinese poetry -- from near to far and back to near in concluding lines – blended with physical objects /views followed with conscious sentiment, a formal closure in the last line / couplet in the final stanza. The whole poem presents a charming moment of ying-yang balance, an essential philosophy in Chinese literature. However its beauty is not lost for common readers who don’t know its structure of creation, just as a flower could be favoured without an understanding of its biological properties, hence why the Song poetry is still so much loved by both the mass today as well as the intellectual world. The first association coming to my mind is Emily Bronte’s “ The Night is Darkening Round Me”, which streams in my ears with her rhymes and vibes...... Notes: 1. chūn sè shēn：blooming spring is done with its highest period; 2. chòng lián wèi juàn：blinds unrolled, hinting she can’t bear to see Spring leaving, 3. symbolic of her young days are going away, a sentiment even stronger with her husband 4. far away on official duties; 5. yǐng chén chén: her bedroom gets gloomy with unrolled curtains at dusk; 6. yǐ lóu: most likely referring to the drawing room upstairs where she and her husbands have spent many happy days together; 7. báo mù: misty dusk / twilight; 8. qīng yīn: light misty weather with some thin clouds in sky, hinting autumn is near. ( Spring clouds are tiered and thick with more moist whereas autumn clouds are high and thin due to drier weather.) Pinying and Word -For-Word Translation: huàn xī shā – the musical tune of this song; xiǎo yuàn xián chuāng chūn sè shēn–small yard idle windows spring high; chòng lián wèi juàn yǐng chén chén –layers of curtains not rolled gloomy; yǐ lóu wú yǔ lǐ yáo qín – sitting in the drawing room, I play the qin; yuǎn xiù chū yún cuī báo mù –distant hills send clouds chasing the mist at dusk; xì fēng chuī yǔ nòng qīng yīn – gentle breeze blows rain plays twilight; lí huā yù xiè kǒng nán jìn – pear blossoms will fade I’m afraid you can’t stop it;