Lakka-trees ripen two by two
And mandarin-ducks die side by side.
If a true-hearted girl will love only her husband,
In a life as faithfully lived as theirs,
What troubling wave can arrive to vex
A spirit like water in a timeless well?
梧桐相待老，鸳鸯会双死。
贞妇贵殉夫，舍生亦如此。
波澜誓不起，妾心古井水。
Folk-song-styled-verse
This is a five-character ancient poem by Meng Jiao, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, and is included in The Complete Tang Poems. Plagued by poverty throughout his life, Meng Jiao mostly depicted the lives of poor scholars in his poetry, which features a simple and natural stylistic quality.
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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