Far and wide the lake spreads before the soft wind.
It’s late autumn already, lotus fragrance lingering.
These waves, this light, the hills, and many more, -
are the eternal echoes of ancient music performing.
The lotus are seed pods with leaves brown and thin.
Dews cleanse duckweed blooms, the grassy strands.
The gulls and herons sleeping there don't even care
to lift their heads to the girls abandoning this scene.
湖上风来波浩渺，秋已暮、红稀香少。
水光山色与人亲，说不尽、无穷好。
莲子已成荷叶老，青露洗、萍花汀草。
眠沙鸥鹭不回头，似也恨、人归早。
This ci was written in Li Qing-zhao's early twenties and is sometimes called "An Ode to Lotus." The quantity and zeal of the acceptance in this early poem certainly contrast with her states of mind, especially her inconsolability, in later poems.
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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