Lamentations
- Poetry of Cao Zhi

《七哀诗》

English Rendering

The moon is shining o'er the hall aglow;

Its crystal light is moving quiet and slow.

There is a lady in deep distress upstairs,

Who sighs and sighs,in deep grief and despairs.


Who is she that leads so sad a life?

The answer is,she is a rover's wife.

Since her man left home a dozen years ago,

She has been living quite alone in woe.


"You're like the dust that flies high in the air 

While I'm like the mud that sinks down there.

Now that we are indeed a world apart,

When can we meet and talk heart to heart?

Oh that I be a breeze blowing south and west 

That travels a long distance into your breast.

If you don't want to bare your breast to me,

On whom shall I rely and what shall I be?"

Lamentations by Cao Zhi
Lamentations by Cao Zhi

Original Text (中文原文)

明月照高楼,流光正徘徊。

上有愁思妇,悲叹有余哀。

借问叹者谁?言是宕子妻。

君行逾十年,孤妾常独栖。

君若清路尘,妾若浊水泥。

浮沉各异势,会合何时谐?

愿为西南风,长逝入君怀。

君怀良不开,贱妾当何依?

Analysis & Context

Cao Zhi

Reader's Companion

The Essence of the Verse

Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.

Reading Between the Lines

Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.

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