You cheated me you'd come here
- Poetry of Li Shangyin

《来是空言去绝踪》

English Rendering

You cheated me you'd come here,

the wind bells rang in the morning wind.

I waited for you from the night to dawn,

wrote some love poems and burned it at the end.


The left candle light glittered in my bedroom,

the fragrance of you orchids i could smell.

I've become the wanderer far from the rainbow.

but you're living in a place beyond the rainbow.

You cheated me you'd come here by Li Shangyin
You cheated me you'd come here by Li Shangyin

Original Text (中文原文)

来是空言去绝踪,月斜楼上五更钟。

梦为远别啼难唤,书被催成墨未浓。

蜡照半笼金翡翠,麝熏微度绣芙蓉。

刘郎已恨蓬山远,更隔蓬山一万重!

Analysis & Context

By Li Shangyin

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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