Shortened Song of Magnolia: Last Year Tonight
- Poetry of Lü Benzhong
《减字木兰花 · 去年今夜》
English Translation
Last year this night, drunk under blooms and moon’s bright face,
This night by river, moon dims dyke and willows veil the boat’s space.
Where is my old friend now?
Take my sorrows down the river’s flow.
Next year before flowers,
Again I’ll remember last year’s hours.
Penned during the mid-Northern Song period, this lyric by Lü Benzhong distills the essence of farewell into crystalline temporal layers—"last year," "this year," "next year"—creating a triple-exposure of memory, solitude, and foreboding. Set along moonlit riverbanks, its restrained language and cyclical structure embody the Confucian literati's elegant sorrow, where unspoken grief resonates more profoundly than lament.
中文原文( Chinese )
去年今夜，同醉月明花树下。
此夜江边，月暗长堤柳暗船。
故人何处？带我离愁江外去。
来岁花前，又是今年忆去年。
- Why Chinese poems is so special?
- The most distinctive features of Chinese poetry are: concision- many poems are only four lines, and few are much longer than eight; ambiguity- number, tense and parts of speech are often undetermined, creating particularly rich interpretative possibilities; and structure- most poems follow quite strict formal patterns which have beauty in themselves as well as highlighting meaningful contrasts.
- How to read a Chinese poem?
- Like an English poem, but more so. Everything is there for a reason, so try to find that reason. Think about all the possible connotations, and be aware of the different possibilities of number and tense. Look for contrasts: within lines, between the lines of each couplet and between successive couplets. Above all, don't worry about what the poet meant- find your meaning.