Before my window,
day in, day out, a dreamy shadow
dominates my patio --
the banana tree,
most reluctantly,
unfolding her tender leaves.
Awaked midnight by the drippings,
my pillow of sorrow hears the rain,
like a story of melancholy
in endless weeping.
A wanderer's heart breaks,
unable to bear such listening.
窗前种得芭蕉树，阴满中庭。
阴满中庭，叶叶心心，舒卷有余情。
伤心枕上三更雨，点滴凄清。
点滴凄清，愁损离人，不惯起来听。
- to the Tune of Tianzicaisangzi
This ci was written in a season of profound homesickness, sometime after 1127, a time of turmoil when Northern Song just came to an end after the fall of the capital. The Royal Court moved south，opening a new page, the Southern Song dynasty.
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.
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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